Comic Reviews for December 4, 2002

Marvel sucks! They really, really suck!

Let's just get on with this.


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Alias 17
THe Underneath Part 2 of 6 - By Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Gaydos; published by Marvel Comics/MAX imprint

Let's see...Jessica and Scott have a discussion about the days events. That's pretty much it. Of course, it's Bendis, so it's all good.

Score: 9/10

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Call of Duty: The Brotherhood 6
By Chuck Austen, David Finch and Art Thibert; published by Marvel Comics

Sigh...and that's the end of that.

Score: 3/10

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Captain Marvel 3
Pamavision - By Peter David, ChrisCross and Chris Sotomayor; published by Marvel Comics

Core thinks I'm a sucker at spending money on strange marketing deals.

She may be right. I spent an extra $1.25 on an eight-page section of Alex Ross describing the new Genis costume. Mighty nice, by the way. Clearly the best issue so far in the relaunch. There's a lot of stuff happening here, a bit too much to explain. In essence though, Genus wants to learn discipline, and what better way to learn it is through the Kree military. Simply great.

Score: 9/10

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Eden's Trail 2
By Steve Uy and Chuck Austen; published by Marvel Comics

Well, it's better than the first issue, as the characters now have a direction to go, and the characters aren't so mindless anymore. The art is still great, even if the yellow/brown color scheme remains the same. It remains to be seen how far the story will go though. I'm liking what's there, though.

Score: 7/10

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Elektra 17
Standing Outside the Temple in the Rain: Part Two - By Greg Rucka, Joe Bennett, Danny Miki and Crime Lab Studios; published by Marvel Comics/Marvel Knights imprint

Elektra sits...and handstands...and holds buckets of paint while waiting for Drake to accept her as her student. And all she had to do was open up and play soccer with the local kids. It remains to be seen how this storyline goes on, as it really isn't the strongest story in this book. Overall though, it's all pretty solid stuff.

Score: 7/10

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Exiles 20
Legacy: Part One - By Judd Winick, Jim Calafiore and Jon Holdredge; published by Marvel Comics

Now this is more like it. The Exiles end up on a world where a mutated form of the Legacy virus has afflicted over half of the world's population, and they have to find the person who was responsible for this new strain. That really hasn't been delved upon yet, as most of the issue is used to explain the harshness of this world. I haven't been this excited for an story in this book since the "A World Apart" three parter nearly a year ago. This is a solid start to the arc though, with some pretty impressive art from Calafiore, especially with the intracate linework on the Network people. Of course, the only thing I'm really pissed about is the damn solicitation for this arc, which is simply given that 'One of the original four will die!'

Have I mentioned that Marvel really sucks this week? I'm guessing that this will be the running theme.

Score: 7/10

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Green Arrow 19
The Archer's Quest Chapter Four: Superfriends - By Brad Meltzer, Phil Hester and Ande Parks; published by DC Comics

First of the non-Marvel books this week, and I'm really losing interest in this story arc. Ollie is collecting various items of his past for what? Yeah. I can't get excited at all with this. Oh well.

Score: 5/10

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Lone Wolf 2100 5
Intermezzo - By Mike Kennedy and Francisco Ruiz Velasco; published by Dark Horse Comics

Second of the two non-Marvel books this week, and by golly, it's a silent issue(again...Marvel Sucks, they really really Suck). Of course, you really can't do much with a silent issue, so what we have here is a simple fight scene between Itto and three cyborgs in Taipei. It's a nicely done fight scene though with some great art from Velasco. Nothing much besides that.

Score: 7/10

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Ultimate Daredevil and Elektra 2 *Pick of the Week*
By Greg Rucka, Salvador Larroca and Danny Miki; published by Marvel Comics/Ultimate imprint

I will rant later. For now though, the story continues on real nice, with very little of the super heroics. Instead, it focuses on the various relationships being made, and a rather bastardly like villain for the series. It's not your usual villain, by the way. All really good stuff though. This is turning out to be a good mini-series.

Score: 9/10

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Ultimate Spider-Man 32
Just a Guy - By Brian Michael Bendis, Mark Bagley and Art Thibert; published by Marvel Comics/Ultimate imprint

Just a guy...that's all it is. I'm amazed. This simple four-part arc before the upcoming Venom story really changes a bunch of things. Just read it, or pick up that inevitable trade. Simply amazing.

Score: 9/10

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Ultimate War 1
The Ultimates vs. Ultimate X-Men - By Mark Millar, Chris Bachalo and Tim Townsend; published by Marvel Comics/Ultimate imprint

Last of the Ultimate offerings this week, and one I'm slightly disappointed with. The premise for this mini is interesting enough (Magneto is giving the world six months to surrender to him, Ultimates/X-Men come to rescue), and it's being executed nicely enough. There are bits of writing though that are a bit agrivating, mostly because of the lateness of the 'Ultimates' book. The biggest reason this book suffers though is because of the art. Bachelo's art is simply too exaggerated for a book like this. The opening sequence is simply stellar, I can give him that. Also, with Townsend doing his inks, some of the work appears much clearer than it did during his two issue fill-in of the 'Ultimate X-Men' book a while ago. Still, I really can't tell a lot of the stuff that is happening or who half the people are, etc. I'll still be anticapating the rest of this though, since it hopefully will be a great mini once it's told. Overall though, a disappointing start.

Score: 6/10

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Before I get to the last review, I have to mention something. The new design of the Ultimate books is literal shit. It feels like shit, and it just blows. A lot. And I have no clue as to why Marvel decided to change this, in their 'Ultimate Sweeps Month' of all things.

I guess it goes back to my earlier rant of Marvel Sucking this week.

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Uncanny X-Men 416
Living in a Mansion - By Chuck Austen and Kia Asamiya; published by Marvel Comics

Last book this week, as 'International Superstar' Kia Asamiya joins the book. Yes, I don't know the guy either. I haven't read any of his manga, but I think I might. He has a very impressive debut here, with some incredible powerful story telling abilities, especially during the Juggernaut sequences. It works all right during some of the quieter moments, like during the hospital scene. He still needs a bit of work with some of the character designs, but nothing too much to worry about. It's all about time. Oh, and to those bastards who think his noses are flippin' big, just go read Ultimate War and look at Bachelo's noses. Now shut up. As for the story, it's still the back-to-basics Austen. He's still laying out the foundation for whatever he is trying to get done, though the writing of the Juggernaut scene I really liked. His story jumps a lot though, which is a bugger sometimes, especially when it goes from a strong scene to a weaker scene. Overall though, the book remains slightly above average.

Score: 6/10


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Now that the 'Marvel Sucks' week is out of the way, I'd like to say that next week looks to be a little shorter for us...rather, just Core. If I'm right, I will be getting all the books and she'll only be reading the Punisher. Oh well. Until next week though, I bid you, Adeiu.