Superior Spider Man #7: This book is like a woman I'm in a bad relationship with. I feel compelled to stay even after it sets my bed on fire like Andrew Garfield's girlfriend in The Social Network. This is, in part, thanks to acting captain Dan Slott keeping the ship afloat when it should be sinking faster than GI Joe: Retaliation's rating on Rotten Tomatoes. This issue, much like the few that precede it, is busy building tension as the Spider Man formerly known as Doctor Octopus is growing more excessive by the day. Now, it's one thing to shoot a man in cold blood in front of several witnesses, but beating up YouTube parkour thieves.....THAT'S the line. And the Avengers won't stand for it. So, it's time for an intervention. But first, another bad guy has to get beaten half to death. I have to admit that, although Slott is working with a fundamentally stupid premise, he's doing a good job of maintaining a semi readable book. This issue is a bit heavy on exposition and he has trouble deciding whether it's going to focus on Otto's narration or Peter Parker's ghost voice. Still, it's fast paced where the action is concerned and Slott's obviously dug his heels in and committed to seeing where this goes. Humberto Ramos' art is gorgeous, masterfully capturing the speed at which this book moves as well as its dark tone.Bottom Line: It needs some work, but given what we're stuck with for the moment....it could be worse. 6.5 out of 10
Thanos Rising #1: With the teased plotline of the next Avengers film, it was a matter of time until we got a book highlighting Marvel's intergalactic, power hungry despot in his early years. With Jason Aaron on board, this is a good idea in theory. It doesn't hurt to have Simone Bianchi's dazzling pencils to help move things along either. Here, we get a look at the Mad Titan in his years as a boy in school which isn't exactly the most necessary storyline where this character is concerned. We're merely teased with her familial ties and honestly, that's a more compelling tale than this episode of Degrassi gone wrong that we're given. Peeling the veil back to give us a look at the inner psyche isn't always the way to go. Little Thanos seems to have a lot of feelings and we saw how wrong that can go in the Star Wars prequels. It takes away from the mystery. Darth Vader was a force of nature as far as fans were concerned. He wasn't an emo anime character. We didn't want to entertain the thought that he had feelings like us. Why? Because the "I find your lack of faith most disturbing" scene isn't quite as powerful and ominous when you can't shake the feeling that he's probably listening to Dashboard Confessional in his head when he says it. In the same regard, it takes away from Thanos' luster to know that he was just an outcast who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Bottom Line: A pretty penciled, yet wildly unnecessary tale to get us primed for the Avengers sequel we're already going to see. 5.5 out of 10
Abe Sapien #1: Of all the characters from Hellboy/B.P.R.D. fame, I've never felt like this is one that got the proper treatment. It's almost criminal to squander an opportunity to tell a story about a telepathic fish man. That's why I was glad to see him get an ongoing series. We don't know much about the history of Abe Sapien and although this issue doesn't lend much to that cause, it does offer a hope that will change before long. Sebastian Fiumara is definitely the guy you want drawing a Mike Mignola monster story, too. His creatures practically skulk and slither right off the page with his sketchy, grainy style. The premise seems simple so far: there are monsters about and someone has to stop them. The problem is that we only know this because everyone's talking about it. That's it. In a world of creepy, crawling things that go bump in the night, talking isn't the most appealing thing in the world even if it is in the service of setting the scene for newcomers to the B.P.R.D. universe. There are two pages worth action in this book and half of that is a vague flashback. I'm sure this is going to shape up to be a nice book. Just call me when someone punches a monster.
Bottom Line: It's an awesome book. Well, it will be when something actually happens. 6 out of 10.
No comments:
Post a Comment