Comic Book Review: Brides of Helheim #3

Raevil has been captured, but mystery still surrounds him. Has he been so easily cowed? Is it good?

Right off the bat Cullen Bunn and Joëlle Jones make the reader wait to see what will happen between Rikard and Raevil. Instead, Sigrid and Brand are front and center and once again the opening sequence is rather uninspiring. Brand comes off as a sappy, love-sick puppy while Sigrid is impetuous and immature. If Sigrid’s character couldn’t get any more annoying after this opening scene with Brand, she has become infatuated with Rikard.

Continue reading at Adventures in Poor Taste!

Affiliate link: Click here to get your copy of Brides of Helheim #3.

Comic Book Review: Brides of Helheim #2

The spae witches’ quest for vengeance takes center stage as Rikard begins his hunt for Raevil. Is it good?

Cullen Bunn’s first part of the story seems altogether pointless. He uses two full pages to detail the fact that Rikard is no longer a man, but an undead draugr. Something readers are well aware of if they read the first book or Helheim itself. After these two pages the history of the spae women and how they became the witches they are, is revealed.

Joëlle Jones places a background behind the panels to cue the ensuing sequence is taking place in the past. There is no need for a written cue because of the visual effect, where the panels are centered on the page and do not take up as much of the page as the panels occurring in the present.

Continue reading at Adventures in Poor Taste!

Affiliate link: Click here to get your copy of Brides of Helheim #2.

Review: Brides of Helheim #1

Cullen Bunn and Joëlle Jones venture back into the world of witches, draugr and Helheim. Is the return good?

If you were thinking the main protagonist would be Rikard and the witches, you are in for surprise. Sigrid, a fiery young blonde, carries the weight of the story. She is accompanied by her friend, Brand, as they journey to the Old Village. Bunn provides an excellent build-up for those unfamiliar with the backstory of Helheim (like this reviewer). He creates a sense of fear and foreboding with regards to the Old Village. There are tales and stories the elders have whispered in the young ears of Sigrid and Brand. Brand, especially, has a healthy fear of the Old Village and the potential realities of his fate.

Continue reading at Adventures in Poor Taste!

Review: Magneto #3

Cullen Bunn once again begins the story with S.H.I.E.L.D. agents at the scene of Magneto’s latest encounter, still two steps behind. He does take a turn with how the story the witness is telling. The witness does not depict Magneto as a fearsome and terrible person, but instead the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents are depicted as the wrong-doers since they are forcibly removing the witness from his home. It is an interesting change of direction and sets the tone for the rest of the book.

After the short introduction with the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, Magneto takes center stage as he continues on his hunt. His mission is front and center with Bunn laying it out as plain as day. Magneto is “here to bring it all down.” Fortunately for the reader, Magneto has not fully recovered his powers but channels Solid Snake, breaking into a secure facility undetected. Gabriel Hernandez Walta does a great job of displaying Magneto’s wide range of uses for his ability. A metal fence is torn, the security system is disabled, and an elevator shaft is manipulated among other things as Magneto infiltrates the facility. The scene actually reminds the reader of the Mission Impossible movie when Ethan Hunt is breaking into Langley!

However, Magneto is not there to steal a NOC list, he is there to destroy. Motivating him is a haunting memory of one of his massive failures. He must stop the threat at all costs in order to prevent such a failure from ever happening again. It isn’t easy and Walta provides a nice action sequence where Magneto even takes a few licks. The result of the battle leads to one of the best panels in the book as Magneto’s presence oozes with terror looking down upon his defeated foe.

The terror is made bone-chillingly clear when Magneto compels cooperation with the tiniest of objects. Let your imagination run wild with the choices of torture you can envision! Bunn takes the story to another level mocking the weakness of the defeated doctor’s principles and the disgust Magneto feels towards such weakness.

Bunn doesn’t stop with a criticism of ideals and discomfort, but throws a wrench into the story, challenging Magneto’s own ideals and principles. His decision reinforces who Magneto is and the lengths he is willing to go to accomplish his goal. Bring it all down.

8.9	A confirmation of who Magneto is and the lengths he will go to achieve his vision, makes for a gripping story.

The Empty Man #1 Review

The premise of The Empty Man #1, Cullen Bunn and Vanesa R. Del Ray’s new mystery thriller is figuring out what exactly is The Empty Man.

The story starts off five years in the past in Mountain Home, Arkansas, where Abram is preaching to his small congregation in a closed down gas station. The congregation is quite small, but one distinctive feature is the fact all of the women have a veil over their heads. All but one.

After leaving the small gas station, Bunn takes us to the present in Atlanta, Georgia. But it doesn’t really feel like an urban area, but more of sleepy suburbia with single family homes and two car garages which Del Ray really perfects. A typical suburban mom has just arrived home with the groceries and is looking for the rest of her nuclear family. The scene should be a creepy buildup, but it falls flat. There are no creaky stairs or other ominous warnings, just a constant ssshhh, which appears to be insinuating a scratching sound, but doesn’t really register with the reader until the source of the sound is revealed and even then it is difficult to figure out what is happening.

Once the source is revealed, it is a gory and grotesque scene with excellent coloring, The actual drawing could be a little clearer as to what exactly is happening, but many of the panels are filled with clouds of smoke or dust that take away from the action. Although to Del Ray’s benefit this may be in hopes to inspire a sense of curiosity and mystery with the reader.

Our two main protagonists, Special Agent Jensen and her partner Walter are introduced as part of a “multiagency task force” investigating The Empty Man. Bunn does a great job as he does in the Magneto series of conveying the thoughts of Walter and the dialogue between Jensen and Walter conveys the sense the two have been on the case together for quite awhile enough to get under each other’s skin, but also enough to have the respect of the other.

After our protagonists take a tour of the crime scene, letting Del Ray and colorist Michael Garland show the true horror and outright creepiness The Empty Man can inflict, they begin a series of interviews with the locals. Sadly the interviews appear to be just page filler, as their goal of conveying the sense of terror and hopelessness around The Empty Man is given much more credence in the following pages with an actual recount of The Empty Man’s previous attacks.

The pages leading up to the ending are the most enjoyable, when Bunn introduces a nice ripple to up the level of creepiness found within the book. The ending itself is a little lackluster, but warrants a follow-up to see where Bunn and Del Ray are going to take The Empty Man.

7.4	The Empty Man is a mystery-thriller begging to be a horror story. If Bunn and Del Ray are able to push the boundaries reaching true horror this will be a book to keep an eye on.

Magneto #2 Review

Writer Cullen Bunn and artist Gabriel Hernandez Walta, have created a very intriguing ‘pull’ at the beginning of the books in this series. They start the story with an eye witness testimony of Magneto’s destruction. The eyewitnesses have been in complete terror and distinctly attempt to portray Magneto as enjoying the terror and mayhem he wreaks. Howeverthe intensity of the testimony is broken up in this second installment with the addition of a little comic relief through the introduction of Magneto fan-boys, who come fully equipped with Magneto t-shirts (I sense a marketing ploy).

After a nice little laugh, the story shifts from the S.H.I.E.L.D. crime scene investigation to Magneto casually strolling through Down Acres, the place of origin of Colton Hendry. Down Acres is a tent-city filled with people who have been so beaten down they have lost all hope.

This hopelessness becomes the primary theme throughout the book and how it affects the denizens of Down Acres as well as the title character. It allows Bunn and Walta to flashback and visit the horrors that scarred the young Max and let him relate to the destitute calling the tent-city home. The flashback also permits the reader to see an innocent pre-Magneto boy, which Walta does an excellent job of contrasting with the older rigid Magneto.

A secondary theme emerges when Magneto contemplates the plight of the Dawn Acres dwellers. He questions whether people are able to affect their destinies or will they eventually end up on a predetermined path. This is a very interesting development and Magneto’s answer to the question is jaw-dropping.

The best part of the book comes from intertwining the flashbacks in Nazi Germany and the lessons learned to the present day where Magneto is able to apply those ruthless lessons to his enemies. This part of the story is extremely well done and is an absolute brilliant piece of writing delving into the psyche of Magneto, one who is both haunted by his past and driven by his mission. The internal monologue is combined with a very well drawn action sequence showing off not only Magneto’s power but also his physical prowess.

The book does a superb job of fleshing out Magneto, exposing the reader to some of his motives and the lengths to which he will go to accomplish his goals. It also incorporates two major themes which Magneto must wrestle with and one that may end up defining him.

9.3	The combination of overarching themes and the delving into Magneto’s psyche make this book a MUST read.

Magneto #1 Review

Magneto, the greatest villain ever created according to IGN, has finally received his own comic book series and it is a decent start. Writer Cullen Bunn and artist Gabriel Hernandez Walta are able to build a true aura of terror around Magneto in just the opening pages. A coffee barista, whose expressions really convey the terror, recalls the unspeakable horror he witnessed when Magneto replaced a doctor’s cavities. It is definitely a holy crap moment.

Following the brutal coffee shop scene, Bunn dives right in to explain the motivations of Magneto mainly what he does, is in the name of all mutants and his goal is to make those who have wronged mutants pay for their transgressions, a bit terse, but hopefully this will be fleshed out as the series progresses. Bunn appears to get sidetracked or attempts to fill space with an interaction with a hotel maid, which was extremely awkward and just seemed out of place.

However, the story moves along when Magneto shifts into detective mode, tracking mutant murderers through newspaper clippings and an old fashioned map with thumbtacks. Magneto locates a promising lead and pursues it to a police station in California, opting to travel via car rather than flying, hinting at the weakening of his powers.

Upon entering the police station, Walta uses a nifty trick of highlighting the metal objects in the room, tantalizing the reader as they wonder how Magneto will use the objects. Sadly Bunn and Walta are not creative with the objects, but opt for sheer power instead, which is still fun to see especially when he slams a police officer against the wall. Magneto’s suit is also something to behold and Walta did a great job piecing the helmet together (literally).

Bunn’s use of an interior monologue really hits home in the police station when Magneto begins putting himself in the place of the jailed suspect. Many of the questions and thoughts perhaps are not even about the suspect, but Magneto himself.

After Magneto storms through the police station, he finds the suspect, Colton Hendry, and attempts to interrogate him. Nevertheless, Hendry has a few surprises which leads to an engaging fight scene, displaying Magneto’s sheer will and his need for vengeance.

7.6	Engaging action sequences and an interior monologue carry the book, despite poor coverage of motivation and weak story sequences.