Moon Knight #9 Review – Moon Knight Goes on a Hellride.

January 23, 2012

Written by: Brian Michael Bendis
Art by: Alex Maleev
Colors by: Matt Hollingsworth
Lettering by: VC’s Cory Petit
Cover by: Alex Maleev

Bendis’s reboot of Moon Knight is a off-beat superhero book that is hard to nail-down. You can draw some similarities to Image’s 2009 Cowboy Ninja Viking (a comic by A.J. Lieberman and Riley Rossmo), but it doesn’t get much beyond surface detail. Marc Spector (aka Moon Knight) and Duncan both have 3 personalities. While Duncan had a cowboy, ninja, and viking running around his head; Spector has Captain America, Spider-Man, and Wolverine. The personalities in Moon Knight speak with color coded speech balloons (Capt. America is blue, Spider-Man is Red, Wolverine is Yellow), akin to how Cowboy Ninja Viking had their icons (a katana for the ninja, a gun for the cowboy, and an axe for the viking). However that’s where the likeness ends as each series varies in plot, tone, and complexity. Those comparisons aside, Moon Knight is unlike any comic I have read.

The plot is new-school noir with a dash of Sybil and a Hollywood twist. Marc Spector moves to LA to work on some TV show about his adventures as Moon Knight called “Legends of the Khonshu”. On one of his patrols as Moon Knight he intercepts the delivery of a Ultron robot body (a seed for the upcoming Ultron War?) and decides to try to find the kingpin of LA and shut him down. He’s losing his shit and seeing things. Visions of Captain America, Spider-Man and Wolverine show up to give him advice along the way. Spector teams up with Daredevil’s ex-girlfriend Echo, and ex-SHIELD agent Buck Lime as his R&D weapons guy (like Q from James Bond) as he fumbles around LA’s underworld. While the plot may seem like standard comic book fare, it’s really the nuanced decompressed approach that Bendis takes to the narrative that makes this a worthwhile read. He takes Moon Knight, a long-lost character that basically nobody cares about anymore, and gives him some real depth, personality and charm. Marc Spector is a flawed hero, arguably one of the most flawed ones in the Marvel Universe because of his history with schizophrenia, demon possession, multiple personalities and blood lust. Bendis makes small moments matter. He brings out the more humanistic qualities of Moon Knights faults. The kind of thing a reader can connect to. Spector is an eccentric outsider that’s self-conscious about being a d-listed super hero. He’s brash and makes hasty decisions leaving him prone to easy mistakes. He tries to be a cad, like Tony Stark, but just ends up kind of being a crappy flirt and having a lot more heart than you’d think. He’s kind of funny in a pathetic sort of way. In short, Marc Spector fails more than he succeeds, and is a lovable loser trying to redeem himself and pull out of a downward spiral. He’s that crazy underdog that you can’t help rooting for.

Last issue we learned that Count Nefaria (an old X-men and Avengers villain) turns out to be the LA kingpin and are left with a cliffhanger showdown. Issue 9 opens with a B-Story flashback to a scene with Buck Lime from a week ago. Marc basically tell’s him that he wants weapons like Captain America, Spider-Man, and Wolverine (a shield, web-shooters, and claws). The whole issue cross-cuts between the B-story of how his weapons get engineered and the present battle with Count Nefaria. He uses these weapons to narrowly escape powerful attacks and throw Nefaria off his game. Meanwhile, Marc Spector’s personalities start to bicker and fight as combat between Nefaria, Moon Knight, and Echo intensifies. Captain America think he should call in the Avengers and get out of there, Spider-Man is smart ass about the whole affair, and Wolverine just wants to kill Nefaria. The issues climaxes with a critical injury and Spector’s mind going haywire. Captain America, Spider-Man and Wolverine fight to the death inside his head and he begins to unravel. Just as things start to really get interesting it concludes with one mother of a cliffhanger. I was left a bit gobsmacked by it to tell you the truth, but am reluctant to spoil it. This is the strength of decompressed storytelling. By the building up small scenes and cross-cutting with action like an editor you can really drive the narrative to a dizzying climax and make it feel as if you just watched a crucial episode of a TV show. Like the episode right before a season finale. The only thing I think we are missing from Bendis is perhaps some big set-piece that really screams Los Angeles. How about a fight scene at Mann’s Chinese Theater where Moon Knight can’t tell between the dressed-up characters and his visions. Or Explosions on Hollywood & Vine; Spector having duel in the Viper Room; A chase scene through a full crowd at Venice Beach; An escape through the LA River. You get the idea. Moon Knight is in LA, let’s fuck it up.

Alex Maleev’s art on this is very textural, almost like something you would see coming out of a figure drawing class. There’s a rough, expressionistic and somewhat scratchy quality to his inked brush work, which contrast to some of the smooth fine lines that are penned in the background. He doesn’t shy away from logotypes or typesetting in signage, giving credibility to even the most mundane scene. Also I got to say that I like that Maleev got away from the heavy use of photo references like he was using on Spiderwoman. He relied on it so much that they gave credit to the model he used for Jessica Drew and it distracted format he content of the story. It’s still apparent that references are used, but they are much more loosely interpreted. Matt Hollingsworth, who also worked with Maleev on Spiderwoman, colors in a way that pops off the page and makes LA feel like the neon-soaked broken playground that it is. It’s the coloring that really sets the mood and atmosphere for the comic. This issue is more about the night and royal blue tones are used in the same way the movie Heat was color graded with cool tones for night. Hollingsworth helps the separation that Maleev creates between the layers of foreground and background, and knockouts the inked lines where appropriate with a color overlay. Special effects radiate subtly, and are not overly photoshopped. The panels are richer for it. The cover, which is all Maleev, is striking in its color and design. It’s a blue-man Spector with yellow eyes, tearing through his Moon Knight cloak on a textured painted background. It’s stark design that possibly alludes to Spector shedding some of the baggage of his personalities.

Bendis puts Moon Knight on overdrive and sends his ass over-the-edge. Whether he lands or even come out the other side is up in the air. Literally anything could happen. That’s what great about this series. It’s an unpredictable wild ride with a fractured super-hero that’s falling apart. This series was a slow-burn to start with and now it finally has the momentum and interest to be truly great. I’m hooked and somehow I care about Moon Knight now. Making Spector vulnerable and crazy worked. He’s a good guy and I hope he pull his shit together. I’m curious to see what happens next.

Story: 8.5
Art: 7.5

Jerry Nelson

Follow me on twitter and tell me what you think @the_hellhounds

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Superior #7 Review, feel good story?

Matthew Sardo

January 19, 2012

Written by: Mark Millar
Pencils by: Leinil Francis Yu
Inks by: Gerry Alanguilan
Colors by: Sunny Gho
Lettering by: VC’s Clayton Cowles
Cover by: Leinil Yu
Publisher: Marvel’s Icon & Millarworld

I never would have thought I’d say this about a Mark Millar comic, but this is a feel-good story with a lot of heart. Simon was just a regular kid that played basketball and went to school. His life got tragically changed forever when he got diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. Here are some cold hard facts about MS from Wikipedia:

“A person with MS can suffer almost any neurological symptom or sign, including changes in sensation such as loss of sensitivity or tingling, pricking or numbness (hypoesthesia and paresthesia), muscle weakness, clonus, muscle spasms, or difficulty in moving; difficulties with coordination and balance (ataxia); problems in speech (dysarthria) or swallowing (dysphagia), visual problems (nystagmus, optic neuritis including phosphenes, or diplopia), fatigue, acute or chronic pain, and bladder and bowel difficulties.”

It exhaust me to even read those lists of symptoms, I couldn’t imagine the difficulty of living with them. So Simon ends up in a wheelchair and endures some serious changes to his life including vicious taunts from kids at school. Then a monkey in an astronaut suit grants him a wish that turns Simon into Superior. Superior is Millar’s love letter to Superman. He’s a fictional character in this world starring in movies and comic books, and when Simon wish is granted he turns into the actual character (not the actor that plays him) and becomes the world’s first superhero.

Simon gets a to be Superior for a week and then the rug get’s pulled out from under him. This Faust-like plot reveals the monkey-naut is a demon and he wants Simon to sell his soul to Satan in exchange for being Superior. What a dick! How completely cruel it is to do something like that? To take someone who is completely afflicted, and offers them superhuman powers, only to take it away unless they sell their soul. Not to mention what a shitty bait-and-switch sales tactic. It makes me mad just thinking about it.Now, I’m not too keen on religion in my comics, nor heavy-handed emotional manipulation, but I was able to look past that because the story advanced with a new twist at every turn. That’s why this comic is so good. It’s a clever narrative gets under your skin a bit. It challenges your sense of justice. You can’t help but have empathy for Simon. If you has MS would you sell your soul for super powers? I probably would. We see what a good kid he is when he decides to return to his old body and reject the deal. And your emotions get taken for a ride as we learn that an old-bully of Simon’s gets offered a similar deal to become Abraxas, Superior’s fictional arch-nemesis. He’s out to fuck up Simon and everything he holds dear. Temptation is out the door. The monkey-naut demon is just trying to force Simon into selling his soul at this point. Simon has to choose to become Superior and save the planet at the cost of his own soul or just let it all get destroyed. That brings us to the double-sized issue #7 finale, the one that declares, “the gloves are finally off”.

It’s no spoiler that Superior kicks some ass this issue. It’s on the cover. It’s a world-threatening show down and there is one big-ass holy hell of a beat down. The kind where there is mile-high explosions, outer-space brawls and entire city blocks get destroyed. Leinil Yu illustrates this beautifully in his signature style of loose line work, kool-aid colors (by Sonny Gho) and “dynamic pseudo-realism” (his words not mine). You can feel the brutality of the battle, and see the true impact and collateral damage a conflict like this can actually cause. Things get out of hand, and there are casualties. He does not spare us the sordid details. Also of note are his gloriously terrifying renderings of demons. The man can sure draw some hellish creatures when he wants to. Yu’s art can be a little rough around the edges at times and can come across as sloppy or rushed, but he really brings his “A” game to this issue and steps it up. Perhaps inks by Gerry Alanguilan help polished it up. Either way it was a really solid effort by the art team.

Once the epic bout of super-powered combat resolves we do finally get a cathartic and enjoyable conclusion. All the plot lines and loose ends are wrapped up, there’s no deus ex-machina cheat. The resolution is smart with a kind of right-in-front-of-your-face logic that’s refreshing. It’s a clue that’s been out in the open all along, anyone could have figure it out. Things are forever changed and there’s no going back to the status quo. That’s beauty of independent comics, you can actually write a third act that matters and has lasting consequences. I can actually imagine him pitching this, “It’s like the movie Big, with a Faust-like twist… meets Superman.” Millar interprets the more interesting parts of these stories, and gives it his own spin. That of course means lot’s of swearing, uncomfortable situations and obscene levels of graphic violence. It’s not for everyone, but I enjoyed the hell out of this comic. There is a bit of cheeky dialogue in the dénouement that I could do without, but more or less this is exactly the kind of popcorn Hollywood finish this comic needed. I felt good after reading the ending. And actually I was a bit moved when I discovered that this comic was dedicated to Christopher Reeve and Richard Donner. How fitting that respect is given to the actor and director of the first two Superman movies, where so much of the tone and mood of this comic borrows. If you are looking for that Millar story that’s a bit different from his usual grind of deviant heroes, and depraved villains give Superior a shot (but if you are just fine with that sort of thing like I am, the Supercrooks preview at end of this book should be right up your alley).

Story: 8/10
Art: 9/10

Jerry Nelson

Follow me on twitter and tell me what you think @the_hellhounds

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Review: New Mutants #36 “Bringing Chicago down to it’s knees!”

Matthew Sardo

January 19, 2012

New Mutants #36
Writer: Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning
Artist: David Lopez and Val Staples

Finally, the conclusion to this series current arc! The New Mutants past few issues have the team trying to locate Blink, under Cyclops’ orders as he’s trying to tie up all loose ends and Blink has been a pretty big loose end since the end of “Necrosha”. Blink has her own vendetta as she attempts to follow a touring metal band, Diskhord, who appear to be causing erratic natural disasters everywhere they play. This time, Diskhord has their eyes on our very own city, Chicago!

This arc has been really slow-moving with a really boring plot to top it off. I was expecting to hold my breath the whole way through, but to my surprise and delight, issue 36 turned out to be a really enjoyable read. We find, within the first few pages, how Diskhord came to have this chaotic power: An alien force living on “chaos energy” has fractured into pieces, spreading all over the universe and it’s attempting to bring itself together by the use of random, chaotic events. This time being… an earthquake in the heart of Chicago! This arc wouldn’t have suffered as much, if this explanation of the alien force was revealed last issue or earlier.

I’m not too familiar with Abnett and Lanning’s previous work, other than that they revamped Marvel’s “cosmic” titles. Which I find it very possibly that this event of the chaos energy alien breaking apart, possibly happened in a previous issue of another series they handle. That’s just speculation though.

Magma steals the show this issue, though she doesn’t stand in the forefront of battle; instead she sits down and attempts to have a talk with the shifting plates about to bring Chicago down to its knees. This was an incredible show of power and I’m always happy to see a character shine in such a way. Blink was a fun, yet brief, addition to the cast, though it’s possible we won’t be seeing much of her. I was a huge fan of Nate Grey “X-Man” joining the team, but since his arrival he has contributed nothing to the story, nor to the dialogue. Other than his one scene where he’s training with Hope Summers in the danger room, has he really shined. And for the record, I’m very much into the idea of Nate and Hope building a close relationship together, as he is essentially a much younger version of her god-father, Cable.

David Lopez’s art was good and the action was smooth, but his lack of detail on the backgrounds, if there was any attempt at a background at all, was scarce. David’s character’s are always dead on. Facial expressions are always enthusiastic and his big bold eyes are entrancing. I very much enjoy his take on Cypher, as he always seems strung-out and exhausted; with the nature of his power, I find it very appropriate.

So, this arc was slow and I’m glad to be moving on, but this specific issue was very engaging and wrapped the story up nicely. Next issue, Magma must pay the price for the deal made with the devil during “Fear Itself”… date night with Mephisto!

Story: 7.5
Art: 6

Also recommended this week:

Batman #5 – Best Issue Ever…
Uncanny X-Men #5 – Dealing with “Tabula Rasa” a fallout of “The Dark Angel Saga”
Daredevil #8 – “Devil and the Details” pt2 Team-up with Spider-Man and Blackcat!

Follow me on Twitter @Ddsuperbatnix

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Fatale #1 ” Death Chases Me” Review

Matthew Sardo

January 19, 2012

Written by: Ed Brubaker
Art by: Sean Phillips
Cover by: Sean Phillips
Publisher: Image

Hot off the heels of Criminal “The Last of the Innocent”, the team of Brubaker and Philips are back with a creator-owned take on crime noir fiction and horror. There has been a considerable amount of buzz and hype on this comic online, so much in fact that it sold out at the distribution level even before it showed up at comic book shops. My copy actually got sold out from under me at the shop I go to even though I had out it on my pull-list a full three weeks prior. It forced me to grab a digital copy to satisfy my curiosity. It should be obvious by now that I’m a big Brubaker and Phillips fan. Ever since a friend lent me Sleeper, their gritty crime stories, capers gone wrong, and black-ops super hero epics have hooked me. Add to that the fact that there is a Lovecraftian type monster with a tommy gun on the variant cover and I was ready to devour this comic. I couldn’t wait! Who doesn’t want to see C’thulu with a gun?!

So now that I’ve read Fatale the big question is does the comic live up to the hype? For the most part, yes. Brubaker jumps straight into the set-up with the funeral of pulp noir writer Dominic Raines, godfather of the lead, Nicolas Lash. Weird cult-markings on the tombstone spark the curiosity of Nicolas, as his godfather was an atheist. Pretty ironic for a godfather, seeing as how they are supposed to be responsible for the spiritual guidance of the godchild. Anyways, he meets a stunning brunette named Jo at the funeral that just floors him. She’s able to shed some light on the markings; there’s a connection between her grandmother and Dominic, something they shared in the past. The rest of comic builds at whirlwind pace. An unpublished manuscript of Dominic’s is discovered, men in black attack, a wild shoot-out erupts, and then there’s a car chase, a plane crash and an amputation. The manuscript is then used as an exposition dump to further unravel the back story of Dominic and Jo’s grandmother, with hints of Nazi cults, bizarre love spells, ritualistic killings, and squid-creatures in military regalia. What the reader is left with is a monster of a whodunit and a dash of “what the fuck” to dwell on. Unfortunately, I noticed a bit of repetition as well.

While Fatale is a weird and uniquely voiced comic, Criminal “Last of the Innocent” has a similar structure. A funeral sets the stage and an Archie-styled comic strip is used as a window to the past. The strips are used sporadically as a b-story in Criminal. This contrasts to the manuscript in Fatale, which is a chunk at the end of the first issue, but you can draw parallels between the two literary devices. It’s evident that Brubaker is riffing off of earlier work. He’s included some other elements from his bibliography as well, such as using a writer as a main character (from earlier volumes of Criminal), Nazi occult (from Fear Itself: The Book of The Skull), and of course a dark-haired femme fatale (from Criminal, Incognito and bunch of other books). I suppose it’s much the same way an artist will paint variations of a subject he’s interested in. You do it further your studies and refine process and style. If I hadn’t just re-read “Last of the Innocent” I probably wouldn’t have even picked up on it. Instead I’ll quote Roast Master General Jeffery Ross and say “Too soon.” It distracted me from the storyline and made me think about technique. As a fan of his work I was happy to get an interesting story but I wanted a fresh approach as well.

Sean Phillips has a great mastery of light and shadow, and his work on Fatale brings grit and mystery to this occult noir potboiler. His character designs add a sense of visual realism to the narrative. Jo looks like a knock out femme fatale. Nicolas Lash has a Dr. Strange-style white stripe going through his otherwise black crop of hair, giving him a hint of magic and intellect. Even the squid-man, who only shows up on a one-page montage, is rendered with a frightening expression and a commanding posture that gives us a glimpse at the maniacal presence he will surely have in the upcoming arc. There is one panel however that didn’t go over too well with me. It’s a minor detail, but the way he rendered the girl waking up from a dream, she looks like she has a pig snout. Unless of course this is a peak into the future and she really does turn in to a pig-girl creature. Maybe pig-girl and squid-man hook up and do some nasty cult shit together, but I doubt it. It’s probably just a rushed panel. The fine-line pen work also appears done by a Pigma Micron pen; they tend to leave a dead flat line and bleed a bit at intersecting points giving an unpolished quality. Those nit-picks aside, there are some really nice compositions and renderings in this comic. I found the crime scenes particularly well executed and was taken aback by their raw graphic nature. Phillips doesn’t pull any punches when drawing corpses. They are bleeding hunks of meat so real you can see the stink. His action scenes are just as intense, you can feel the adrenaline of a car chase and experience the shock of a plane crash. Improbable circumstances and situations transition effortlessly as a result of hard work from a seasoned storyteller. The flair and panache that Phillips adds to this title is clearly just as crucial to its buzz and success as Brubaker.

While not flawless, I anxiously await the next installment of Fatale. I know I’m getting a killer one-two combo from two of the leading creators in the business. It will be interesting to see where the story goes, if it’s headed toward familiar waters or will veer off unexpectedly into some uncharted territory. Will the pulp back story every catch up with the present? Will we see more of Nazi squid-face? Will Squid-face and pig-girl hook up? Also, what about those cult symbols found on the tombstone? And what’s going on will all these killings and sacrifices? If any on this weirdness interests you, I recommend checking out Fatale. That is, if you can track down a copy of it.

Story: 8/10
Art: 8/10

Jerry Nelson

Follow me on twitter and tell me what you think @the_hellhounds

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Review : Batman #5 Bruce Wayne Finally Reaches His Breaking Point

Matthew Sardo

January 18, 2012

Batman #5

Story By: Scott Snyder

Art By: Greg Capullo and John Glapion

Review Score : 10/10

There isn’t another medium that can create and involve you with art and storytelling better than comic books and Batman #5 is a testament to that statement. A week has passed since anyone from the Bat Family has seen Bruce Wayne . Scott Snyder takes us further into the mind of Bruce as he is left to wander the Court Of Owls Maze this issue . With the exception of two pages in the beginning of the issue and a page at the end we are left to watch Batman at the mercy of his own insanity and insecurities . Scott Snyder uses Batman’s own inner dialogue to carry us through each part of this issue . It’s a perfect way to create despair as we watch Batman enter room after room , sometimes the same room he had just left as he convinces himself that he’s still in control . With every reaffirmation things take a turn for the worse and what begins as a battle of survival slowly turns into a decent into madness. I can only compare it to the feeling I had while watching “Buried ” . You want to see Bruce succeed , but deep down inside your convinced this isn’t going to end well.

Greg Capullo and Johnathan Glapion have truly out done themselves this issue. They use every angle and perspective you could imagine to create images that are nothing short of perfect. While Scott’s Job is to create the narrative , Greg Capullo is just as involved in the story telling this issue . Greg’s art is always amazing but he takes his craft up to another level this issue. By making the reader turn this issue to the side , upside down and finally having us view things out-of-order , we get the sense of what Batman’s feeling . His confusion at not being comfortable in his surroundings even though this is something he feels he can overcome and survive. Greg also manages to have Talon stalk Batman on each page utilizing reflections in glass and showing us the glow of his eyes off into the distance, waiting for the perfect moment to finally put down his prey .

This leads to a single page spread that blew me away . Watching Bruce slowly lose his mind as it gives way to his insanity is painful enough but to see him get taken down the way he is at the end of this issue I can only describe it as gut wrenching. Closing out by focusing on Damian missing his father and the symbolism of the Bat Signal burning out is a pitch perfect way to end this issue. Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo must be commended for not only taking risks with this issue , but flawlessly executing them in every way. This is art and narrative blending in perfect harmony . Batman#5 may already be the best single issue I read of any comic this year and I can’t recommend this book strongly enough.

Mike DeVivo

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Review: Avenging Spider-Man #3, Red Hulk is dead?

Roger Riddell

January 18, 2012

Avenging Spider-Man #3
Writer: Zeb Wells
Art: Joe Madureira and Ferran Daniel [Color]

The conclusion to Zeb Wells’ first story in his Spider-Man team-up book begins with the Red Hulk dead and Spider-Man on the run in Subterranea with J. Jonah Jameson in tow.

Last issue, Red Hulk was seemingly defeated in battle by the king of the Molans, who had conquered Subterranea and usurped the Mole Man. After getting Mayor Jameson to safety, Spider-Man challenges the Molan king to prevent him from trying to do the same to New York.

In traditional Spider-Man fashion, this isn’t done without a little bit of humor. After all, Avenging Spider-Man is probably the most light-hearted of the Spidey books out right now, and the tonal polar opposite of Wells’ current Spidey mini-series Carnage U.S.A.

If you’ve read my reviews of the first two issues of Avenging (here and here), you’ve no doubt heard everything you need to know about the book. It’s a light-hearted, fast-paced ride in the tradition of the old Marvel Team-Up books. The art matches the tone of the writing, and I’ve gotta say that I wish this were an animated series. I’d be stoked about it and hooked, waking up early on Saturdays again and stuck in front of the TV eating Count Chocula.

Definitely pick this book up if you like your Spider-Man to be fast, fun and cracking jokes every other panel. I’m not sure this is going to be the consistent tone of the book based on some of the recently released teasers, but it’s a safe bet that breaks in that tone will be few and far between based on these first few issues.

STORY: 8/10
ART: 9/10

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Review: Uncanny X-Force #20, Fantomex stands trial

Roger Riddell

January 18, 2012

Uncanny X-Force #20
Writer: Rick Remender
Art: Greg Tocchini and Dean White [Colors]

The Captain Britain Corps have abducted Fantomex and Psylocke in the middle of the night, taking them to the dimension-outside-of-dimensions of Otherworld.

The Corps, who are led by Psylocke’s brothers, intend to convince Psylocke to rejoin them and to make Fantomex stand trial for killing the reincarnated child form of En Sabah Nur, aka Apocalypse. Their assertion is that while he may have been brainwashed by the genocidal cult of Akkaba, En Sabah Nur could have still become a good being with the right nurturing.

Essentially, this aspect of the storyline is a nice allegory of the nature vs. nurture argument, as well as the morality of killing someone or something as a means of preventing what they could one day potentially do. From that, you can draw whatever conclusions to the argument you wish, as I suppose Rick Remender’s intention with the moral question here is most likely to make you do just that.

Elsewhere in this issue, Remender sets up the dynamic between the team and the newly-arrived Age of Apocalypse incarnation of Nightcrawler. Unlike his deceased Earth-616 (that’s the mainstream Marvel Universe, kids!) counterpart, he’s not happy-go-lucky, he hates the uniform, he’s seen to much to have any sort of faith, and he hates being called “elf.”

Oh, and he’s extremely rude.

As Wolverine and Deadpool acclimate themselves to AoA Kurt (which is likely a challenge for Wolverine, due to his history with the mainstream Nightcrawler), they’re informed by Ultimaton (Cavern-X’s security robot) that the cavern was compromised by the Captain Britain Corps.

As usual, Remender does a great job making interactions between characters feel like they really mean something. There’s a certain weight you can feel between Wolverine and Deadpool and the AoA Nightcrawler. There’s a palpable tension in the panels with Psylocke and her brothers, and when Fantomex is standing trial.

Tocchini’s art furthers these interactions, and even varies between locations. In the magic realm of Otherworld, which houses the gateways to all realities and planes of existence, the art feels more washed out and almost like watercolor, while the Earth scenes remain standard and finely detailed.

Throw all of this in with the moral issue mentioned above and it’s not hard to understand why this is the most consistently enjoyable X-book in Marvel’s line.

STORY: 9/10
ART: 9/10

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Review: Venom #12, Venom in Vegas!

Roger Riddell

January 18, 2012

Venom #8
Writer: Rick Remender
Art: Lan Medina [Pencils], Nelson Decastro [Inks] and Marte Gracia with John Rauch [Colors]

The road trip that Rick Remender has had Flash Thompson on with his arch-nemesis Jack O’Lantern for the past few months has come to an end as the two reach Las Vegas. Thompson (aka Venom) is about to intercept the item that he was blackmailed by Crime Master and Jack O’Lantern into retrieving.

Only, the item isn’t just any weapon — it’s the symbiote Toxin.

Toxin is the “offspring” of the Carnage symbiote, which bonded to a New York police officer, Patrick Mulligan, who became a superhero crime fighter — drawing the ire of both the Venom and Carnage symbiotes. That’s not to say the Toxin symbiote didn’t still have murderous rages. It just suppressed them.

As to how the symbiote ended up detached from Mulligan and stored in Vegas, I missed that story somewhere along the line.

The important thing to know here is that its presence sends the Venom symbiote into a rage, causing it to take full control of Flash and go on a rampage through Sin City trying to kill it and Jack O’Lantern — who grabs it from Venom. Lantern eventually breaks through to Flash by telling him how he’ll find his girlfriend and cut out her brains if he doesn’t get the symbiote under control, and then leaves Flash alone in Vegas to fall into his old habits.

Little does Flash know, the Red Hulk is still on his trail and the two are about to collide with X-23 and Ghost Rider in next month’s ‘Circle of Four.’

Overall, this story has been a nice lead-in to ‘Circle of Four’ without feeling like a lead-in story at all. Well, until this issue, anyways. After seeing what Rick Remender has done with Jack O’Lantern as far as making him an interesting villain, I’m excited to see what he can do with a D-List symbiote character like Toxin.

The art remains solid, especially the panels with glimpses of Jack O’Lantern’s charred, disfigured face. At one point, Venom even has two additional mouths on each side of his neck — which was weird and something I’ve never seen before, but I’ll take it.

STORY: 8/10
ART: 8/10

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Review: Amazing Spider-Man #678, New York City Destroyed! Again!

Roger Riddell

January 18, 2012

Amazing Spider-Man #678
Writer: Dan Slott
Art: Humberto Ramos [Pencils], Victor Olazaba [Inks] and Edgar Delgado [Color]

New York City will be destroyed in 24 hours, and Spider-Man only has until 3:10 P.M. to stop it!

Following a dark vision of the future seen with an invention of one of Horizon Labs’ brain trust members, Grady Scraps, Peter Parker sets out to prevent catastrophe and change the invention’s “Bad Tuesday” back into a “Good Tuesday.”

Oh, and, per Madame Web, he can’t seek help from the Avengers or Fantastic Four, or try to evacuate the city.

That shouldn’t be too hard, right?

Dan Slott begins his latest story arc with a classic premise: Presenting the hero with a seemingly insurmountable challenge that, ideally, shows them they are capable of overcoming greater obstacles than they imagined. This is a common premise in Spider-Man stories, especially, because it fits the basic tenets of the character, and it makes a great filler story when you’ve got a big event coming up like the much-anticipated “Ends of the Earth” Sinister Six storyline that begins in a few months.

Even with all of the familiarity in the basic premise, Slott adds in details that set the story apart — namely opening pages where Peter decides to walk to work because web-swinging tends to have him missing the “big picture” of the melting pot that is New York City. Pete’s interactions on the two-page spread at the beginning of the story not only add little details while including New York City as a “character” in the book, they underscore just what’s at stake if he fails later on in the story.

Humberto Ramos continues to impress, and his style of art has really grown on me. It’s cartoonish, but not too exaggerated — and looking back, I kind of wish the Spider-Man animated series from the ’90s had looked like this. Of course, he’s also one of the nicest guys in the industry, so he’d get bonus points on that even if his art was terrible.

Nice start to this two-parter. The only thing I’m left wondering, which I thought of when I started reading this, is that with the Marvel version of New York City seemingly destroyed about 4 or 5 times a year, how are most of the citizens still alive for Spider-Man to save, anyways?

STORY: 8.5/10
ART: 9/10

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Review: Daredevil #8, The Marvel Universe’s latest love triangle begins here!

Roger Riddell

January 18, 2012

Daredevil #8
Writer: Mark Waid
Art: Kano and Javier Rodriquez [colors]

Mark Waid’s two-part Spider-Man/Daredevil team-up/crossover story wraps up in issue #8 of his acclaimed Daredevil series.

If you missed part one in Amazing Spider-Man #677, here’s what happened: Spider-Man, looking to rebound from his recent break-up with Carlie Cooper, tried to sleep with former friend-with-benefits and known thief Black Cat again. Black Cat rejected him and was arrested shortly after returning home, with evidence planted to make it look as though Spider-Man was behind the arrest. Meanwhile, an advanced hologram projector was stolen from Horizon Labs with security footage altered to make it look as though Black Cat stole the device. Spider-Man, knowing that the Black Cat was with him at the time stamped on the security vid, sought the help of Daredevil (aka attorney Matt Murdock) to help him get to the bottom of things and clear the Cat’s name. Black Cat, however, escaped custody and, at the end of the issue, looked to have gone totally bad as she attacked Spider-Man and Daredevil.

See what happens when you miss part of a story? Shame on you.

Anyways, Waid shifts seemlessly from Spidey’s perspective to Daredevil’s for part two of “Devil and the Details,” which really adds an extra layer of depth. Stories with multiple main characters are a dime a dozen, but stories told through multiple character’s perspectives are few and far between — and always welcome, as far as I’m concerned.

As Daredevil #8 begins, Spidey and Daredevil work out their differences with the Black Cat which leads to all three teaming up to solve the mystery of who’s behind the frame-up job, as well as the creation of Marvel’s latest love triangle. This being my first issue of Daredevil, I can see why Waid’s work on the book has been so highly praised. There’s not one action sequence where something doesn’t happen to remind you that Matt Murdock is, in fact, a blind man. Waid plays off of that characteristic extremely well in the dialogue between Daredevil and Black Cat, as well as the scene’s involving Spider-Man. Remember, Daredevil “sees” through his enhanced senses like hearing, and Spidey talks constantly.

The art by Kano (who I was surprised to learn has a career outside of shooting laser beams out of a metal plate over his eye in death matches) is beautiful and strikes a nice balance between traditional comic art and modern fine details.

“Devil in the Details” is a solid story overall, leaving me highly tempted to add Daredevil to my already-overloaded pull list.

STORY: 9/10
ART: 9/10

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