Review: Grendel vs. The Shadow #1

Two classic characters, one a brilliant criminal mastermind and the other a vigilante on an unstoppable quest for justice, collide in Matt Wagner’s Grendel vs. The Shadow #1. Is it good?

Matt Wagner and his colorist son Brennan Wagner weave an excellent introduction connecting the two main protagonists in just the first two pages of the issue; although it may take new readers (such as myself) a second read through to realize this. After creating the connection between the two characters, Matt Wagner focuses on introducing them, letting the reader know who Grendel and The Shadow actually are.

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Review: Guardians of The Galaxy #18

Brian Michael Bendis provides an excellent jumping-on point for new fans who have never picked up the comic, but who wholeheartedly enjoyed the movie! The plot of the book has little to do with the movie, but the feel of the movie is captured in the book.

Bendis puts the reader and Starlord on the edges of their seats from the beginning. Gamora has captured Peter Quill and is extensively interrogating him on how Thanos returned from the Cancerverse (“an imploding nightmare universe”), but Nova or Richard Rider did not. Gamora wants the truth and will not accept more of Quill’s lies.

The relationship between Gamora and Quill although being pushed to the limit in an extremely stressful situation is still enjoyable and evokes deep emotions. Quill makes a quip about Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Gamora has no clue what he is talking about. Quill explains how he and Nova believed they would be sacrificing their lives to take out Thanos and were content going out in a blaze of glory.

Bendis’ dialogue and narrative gets a major boost from Ed McGuinness’ pencils and Mark Farmer’s inks. The emotion and downcast nature of Quill really emphasizes his regret and sorrow for Nova. McGuinness draws Quill looking forlorn with his head cast downward and his eyes, his eyes just have the look of regret. Farmer is able to provide great shadowing, drawing the reader’s attention to the eyes and reinforcing Quill’s regretful emotional state.

The book transitions wonderfully from Gamora’s interrogation of Quill to the actual events in the Cancerverse. The panels are set up with the interrogation on the left side of the page and the actual events Quill is recalling on the right. Eventually Quill and Gamora are not shown and the reader understands Quill has begun divulging the truth. The Cancerverse is non-stop action. Nova and Quill equipped with some type of cube are pounding the crap out of Thanos and they even receive some unexpected help! Viewers of the movie will not recognize him at all; he looks more like the Hulk than the tattooed blade-wielding Destroyer movie-goers saw.

The artwork in the fight scenes is really good. Drax’s fist connecting with Thanos’ face is glorious to behold from Drax’s wicked grin to Thanos’ grimace as his face buckles and parts of his lips start to flap from the force of the punch. Not only do McGuinness and Farmer make a great team with the artwork, but Justin Ponsor nails the coloring from the red lightning in the background to the cube’s explosions of white light.

There were some minor hiccups when it came to the lettering. VC’s Cory Petit seems to have left out a couple words in a number of bubbles including the 4th panel when Gamora is discussing her spirituality, forgetting the word “the” before Sundance Kid, and one of the most glaring is the misspelling of Richard Rider altogether adding a y in place of the i!

8.0	Guardians of the Galaxy #18 is a fun ride filled with action, humor, and emotional tension that is a perfect jumping-on point for new readers!

Review: C.O.W.L. #4

The Grey Raven and the rest of the union are left in doubt, especially when Geoffrey Warner calls asking for Blaze to forego the picket line to handle a problem. Does Geoffrey Warner really care about the members of C.O.W.L. or is it all about political power? But what you really want to know: is it good?

Continue reading at Adventures in Poor Taste!

Review: Genius #5

The conclusion to Genius‘ story begins with a race against the National Guard and their Abrams tanks! Destiny must zoom in and out of traffic on her motorcycle to force cars into each other, delaying the Guard as much as possible. Cars are no obstacle to an Abrams tank as they steamroll over them. Hopefully the civilians were able to escape their vehicles before they were smashed to bits. The beginning is full of action and purpose, but does the rest of the comic live up to the exciting beginning? Is it good?

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Review: Transformers vs. G.I. JOE #2

The Joes have fended off the first incursion of Earth by the Decepticons and have launched their own invasion of Cybertron. The Joes, led by Scarlett and her Star Brigade are relentlessly carpet bombing Cybertron with Green Bombs until they run into Trypticon and the Decepticons.

Will the Joes be able to survive against the “Giant Homicidal Robots?” More importantly, is it good?

Continue reading at Adventures in Poor Taste!

Review: Genius #4

The party is over and Destiny faces two huge challenges: betrayal and loss in one of two issues of Genius on shelves this week. Will she capitulate and fold her hand or will she continue to fight? But an even better question: is it good?

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Review: Black Market #2

Ray and Denny return in Black Market #2, but instead of moving the story forward writer Frank Barbiere continues with a retrospective into Ray’s life before he teamed up with his brother Denny and Biochem.

The book begins with Ray working for the police as a medical examiner; he is performing an exam on a hopeful bank robber. Unfortunately for the bank robber, there was a Super who intervened and did he ever intervene. The bank robber has a giant gruesome hole in his chest! The sequence not only gives the reader a glimpse into Ray’s past, but also provides background on the budding conflict between the Supers and everyday folks, especially the police.

Once Ray leaves work and returns home, his brother Denny shows up at his door begging him to save a man’s life at the warehouse! It seems Barbiere is attempting to rewrite Denny’s return into Ray’s life. Here he has Denny showing up on November 8, 2012, although in the first book Denny appeared at Ray’s house for the first time on June 14, 2013 to proposition him to work with Biochem. This plot hole gets even larger when Barbiere jumps to June 15, 2013 where he introduces Ray to the fully stocked warehouse! Is the reader to presume Ray already knows about the warehouse when he is supposedly first being introduced to it?

Following this gaping hole, Barbiere adds another one. After the ending of the first book, Ray is adamant Denny and Bruiser should not drain too much of Hotspot’s blood and leaves them assuming he will not be killed. However, the reader concludes this is in the past since Ray states on the very last page of book one, “… I Kill Superheroes!” The reader is also led to believe Hotspot is their first victim; this is not the case. Following Barbiere’s excellent back story to Bruiser, a former-hero and vigilante crime fighter, the trio pursue and subdue Electric Lad, but what they do with him is left to the reader’s imagination. Most likely he was killed, but then Ray’s protestations in the first book seem to have little or no meaning.

Despite the plot holes, Barbiere is able to create a sense of anger amongst the common folk towards the Supers. During Bruiser’s back story, the Supers were friendly. Both sides were fighting to clean-up the streets, but once the streets were cleaned the Supers became reclusive, retreating amongst themselves. They were not seen as heroes anymore, but threats to a way of a life.

Victor Santos’ artwork continues to provide a good mix of realism with the fantastic. Shan twirling her hair as she flirts with Ray really emphasizes the good life he had before Denny. While the aftereffects of Electric Lad’s powers on Ray and Denny create a real sense of danger and depict the power the Super’s have over the everyday man. Adam Metcalfe’s colors keep the book lively from Electric Lad’s blue to the glowing red of the Super DNA.

6.0	The gaping plot holes disengage the reader from an interesting story idea.