Green Lantern Comic Book #170 DC Comics 1983 VERY FINE

US $2.99 End Date: Friday May-18-2012 9:58:16 PDT Buy It Now for only: US $2.99 Buy it now | Add to watch list

Reptisaurus Comic Book #4, Charlton 1962 VERY FINE-

US $39.99 End Date: Friday May-18-2012 9:58:29 PDT Buy It Now for only: US $39.99 Buy it now | Add to watch list

Secret Warriors #27 Comic Book - Marvel

US $2.99 End Date: Friday May-18-2012 9:58:38 PDT Buy It Now for only: US $2.99 Buy it now | Add to watch list

By: Gail Simone (story), Ardian Syaf (pencils), Vicente Cifuentes (ink), Ulises Arreola (colors)

The Story: Once again, another girlhood classic becomes a twisted analyser of fear/affright.

The Review: I should chance this access from the return-go: I gentleman’t really know what all is occurrence in Batman with the unit Court of  Owls vein.  I know sufficiency from intelligence and hearsay to have a general appreciation of the absurd—secret Illuminati-nature society transmitting highly trained, unkillable bravo to takings plumage the Bat-home and assert say-so maiden Gotham—but I tin’t opportunity I know much of the specific.  I figured I’d gimmick up once the commerce inevitably cum putout.

For that ground, I’m evening LE affected by the “Night of the Owls” postage on this rubric than I would be normally.  One-attempt necktie-inch, those awkward situation where a rubric hop onboard some solon voter act for ace quodlibet, never seem to washing putout all that excavation.  Most of the clip, these stories completely derail whatever ongoing game the writer has in nous, and then the stories themselves wrap up nearly as soon as they adrenarche, departure you affect tract-changed.

And although Simone does a fairly commonweal occupation fashioning exercise of the elector, ultimately the narration she tell share the Lapp problem as all these unity-endeavor necktie-In.  It brings you access in the middle of the Event as it happens, so if you weren’t followers the main plotline (form me), you’re leaved a bit bewildered as to what’s going on, and then the issue concludes just when you’ve officially hopped aboard the premise.  The issue simply breezes through the “Night of the Owls,” and you have no reason to believe any part of it will have any lasting event on the Stations.

It doesn’t assistance that little of Simone’s beats has any imaginaries emotional resonance.  There’s the featured Talon, Mary, an apparently blemished and traumatized woman brought up to be one of the world’s great killers.  We’re meant to see a connexion between her and Batgirl, but what the nature of that connection is, we have no clue.  Even though Mary herself explains that she has a mask too, and that she “understand,” this doesn’t looking to have any bearing on wherefore Barbara wears the mask, since her opponent wears it for completely unlike reasons.

Even more strange and incongruent is the analog story of Ayumi, a WWII-era Japanese schoolgirl who helped brand “fire balloon” in the name of patriotism.  While the Court of Owls winds up using these same weapons in their war upon Gotham, you can’t see the connection here, either.  For the Japanese, these fire balloons represented a rather foolish lastly hope, an act innate putout of despair and daze nationalism.  That doesn’t bear much resemblance to the seemingly omnipresent and omniscient nature of the Court.

In fact, Simone’s outdoing work in this issue is showing how invasive and powerful the Court really is.  They know exactly how to manipulate the people they took, and they know where to hit so it hurts the most.  Their string-pulling of Commissioner Gordon really brings home the idea that not eventide Gotham’s finest tinning out-maneuver these owlish folk, fashioning you truly believe at the extremity that there’s an imaginary possibility “we equitable doomed Gotham.”

Syaf is a fine artist, but small statesman than that.  While he has equal gift at portrayal the dramatics and the thing, he doesn’t impress in either area.  The tallness of his emotional depth is to drape the characters’ faces in shadow, and the most you can tell about his action scenes is they manage to convey a strong awareness of velocity.  But at times his ballet is plainly confounding; where exactly is Batgirl shooting her managing hook when she saves herself from falling to her death?

Conclusion: I understand that this issue is an one-endeavour tie-in, but the quality of this series has been degrading for a long time, regardless.  I’ll bows it out a while longer because Simone’s attach to it, but I mightiness as well chance right here I gentlemen’t have much self-confidence she tin turn things around.

Grade: C

- Minhquan Nguyen

Some Musings: - At 1 point are we going to seat Batgirl struggle on par with the opponent of the day?  I feel like she’s been on the verge of death pretty much every arc since this title rebooted.

- Incidentally, the usage of Haly’s Circus as a hearing earth for the Court’s assassin is both a terrible and intriguing idea at the same time.

Filed under: DC Comics, Reviews Tagged: Ardian Syaf, Barbara Gordon, Batgirl, Batgirl #9, Batgirl #9 review, Commissioner Gordon, Court of Owls, DC, DC Comics, Gail Simone, Gotham, Night of the Owls, Talons, Ulises Arreola, Vicente Cifuentes
Weekly Comic Book Review

Green Lantern Comic Book #170 DC Comics 1983 VERY FINE

US $2.99 End Date: Friday May-18-2012 9:58:16 PDT Buy It Now for only: US $2.99 Buy it now | Add to watch list

Reptisaurus Comic Book #4, Charlton 1962 VERY FINE-

US $39.99 End Date: Friday May-18-2012 9:58:29 PDT Buy It Now for only: US $39.99 Buy it now | Add to watch list

Secret Warriors #27 Comic Book - Marvel

US $2.99 End Date: Friday May-18-2012 9:58:38 PDT Buy It Now for only: US $2.99 Buy it now | Add to watch list

By: Too many to list—IMDB, if you please.

The Story: When these guys show up, it’s your signal to stock up on disaster insurance.

The Review: Don’t take this as a sweeping statement of superhero movies, but I tend to think they work best when they’re just straight-up action-gamble vehicles.  Just give populate what they want: plenty of thrills and laughs, a solid conspired, and you won’t need to mix in any spectacular nonsense or political statement in between.  That latter stuff would be nice—an exciting movie with approximately relevance is always a well thing, but sometimes all you really need is the excitement.

With that in mind, The Avengers easily takes a position as one of the best in what has been a Golden Age for superhero films.  The prologue alone has enough explosions, gunfire, car chasing, martial artistry, crumbling rubble, and suspense to fill several Daredevils, and the movie only builds in scale right to its very last second, proving that more really is sometimes more, and that you can never go too big or too splashy if you know how to do it right.

The premise is simple: man comes in conquest of the planet, whose only hope lies in a ragtag band of remarkable but radically different individuals.  Joss Whedon, who has a natural genius for bringing retired the credibility in truly outlandish plots, wisely sticks to the action points, only occasionally deviating to have Loki (the man coming in conquest) spout some drivel about the uselessness of free will, a poorly conceived bite that lead perfectly nowhere.  Suffice to say, anytime this corporeal pops up, you grow impatient to move on to the more serious business of butt-kicking.

And of course, the whole appeal of the film, and the crux of its success, lies in its fictional stars.  Thor, Captain America, and Iron Man are well-established figures in comic book filmdom, and their actors have already ingrained the characters into the public’s conscious.  We know who they are and they delight us whenever they say or do anything according to our expectations.  This trinity makes the heart and soul of the team, and they drive most of the film’s spirit.

If Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Hulk don’t have quite the wattage of star power that their more famous teammates do, at least they never go mere ciphers.  Sadly, Hawkeye doesn’t exert much of a presence, being denied the opportunity when the plot sidelines him for a major chunk of the movie.  Mark Ruffalo strives valiantly to give his character, whose entire value is either as tank or supporting brainpower, some dimension.  But it’s Black Widow who really breaks unwrap in this film, most likely, I suspect, because Whedon could not bear to have the whole 143 minutes dominated by men.  If you had little use for Natasha Romanoff when you got into the theater, you’ll most likely be a fan once you leave.

And while there’s much else I could praise about the movie (the treatment of Agent Coulson, the breathtaking special effects, the heart-pounding battle sequences), I will spend the remainder of my time talking about its humor.  Whedon’s classic, hilariously out-of-context mixture of sarcasm and understatement is practically a character of its own, keeping you alert and happy even at the slower parts of the admittedly lengthy movie.  Of course, Iron Man gets the lion’s share of zingers and jokes, but the Hulk has perhaps the most satisfying gag of all, a bit of violent slapstick which is pretty much the live-action version of Popeye trouncing Bluto.

Conclusion: For thirteen dollars, you get everything you could expect out of a superhero film, executed to a lavish degree.  You don’t need any political/philosophical commentary when your brain is drenched in cinema-induced adrenaline.

Grade: A

- Minhquan Nguyen

Some Musings: - My favorite part of the film: watching Thor, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Captain America, Bruce Banner, and Iron Man awkwardly eating shawarma in the midst of a broken down five.  From the looks of their faces as they much in silence, I’m guessing Guy Fieri isn’t going to be paying it a visit.

- Then again, can you blame the owners if the cooking isn’t at its best?  They just had one of the most traumatic days of their dwell, their livelihood is in ruins, and before they can even pick up the pieces, they had to whip up a meal on the fly for six violent weirdoes?  They should get one of those cheesy signed and troll-laden headshots for their troubles.  “Heckuva putting to unwind and ‘wrap’ up after a day of world-saving.  Cheers, Tony.”

Filed under: Marvel Comics, Reviews Tagged: Agent Coulson, Black Widow, Bruce Banner, Captain America, Clint Barton, Hawkeye, Hulk, Iron Man, Joss Whedon, Loki, Maria Hill, Marvel, Marvel Comics, Natasha Romanoff, Nick Fury, Pepper Potts, S.H.I.E.L.D., Steve Rogers, The Avengers, The Avengers movie, The Avengers movie review, Thor, Tony Stark
Weekly Comic Book Review

lot of 9 comic books

US $10.00 End Date: Friday May-18-2012 9:59:30 PDT Buy It Now for only: US $10.00 Buy it now | Add to watch list

A SET OF 3 SPIDERMAN: EYES WITHOUT A FACE COMIC BOOKS - MARVEL NOIR COMICS (M14)

US $10.00 (0 Bid) End Date: Friday May-18-2012 9:59:38 PDT Bid now | Add to watch list

by Brian Michael Bendis (writer), Mike Deodato (art), Rain Beredo (colors), and Joe Caramagna (letters)

The Story:  K’un-Lun gets its new Iron Fist as well as a very special guest.

The Review: This issue proves that last issue wasn’t just a fluke, one-issue thing: despite not featuring a single Avenger, being set in the past, and being an event tie-in, this is one of the best New Avengers stories since the relaunch of the title.  Actually, it’s probably my favourite next to the first, Stuart Immonen illustrated arc.

Bendis’ Avengers booked have gradually fallen into a creative rut of repetition and stagnation, but this issue, much like the issue before it, allows Bendis to do something totally different: a K’un Lun comic.  The result is a ticketed that is filled with a sense of wonder.  Bendis immerses us into the strange world of prophecy and mysticism that is K’un Lun and the result is an ominous, escapist trip that only comics can provide.

Perhaps the one weakness of this issue is the lack of meaningful character-work, particularly in the case of our redheaded protagonist, who really hasn’t been explored much beyond the surface flat.  Oddly, I’m fine with that in the context of this comic.  It’s clear that Bendis has chosen instead to focus on the atmosphere and chanting of dread and imminent cataclysm; it’s clear that this story, and its characters, are completely driven and controlled by events.  Characterization takes a backseat, but only because the characters are simply pieces in a large game with the highest stakes.  In this sense, Bendis’ approach actually works for the comic.

Meanwhile, Deodato and Beredo are doing some of the best work I’ve seen out of the pair since their days on Dark Avengers a few years back.  Deodato continues to blow me away with his epic, otherworldly illustrations of K’un Lun.  There are some absolutely gorgeous images here, including a wonderful splash of a giant cliff-face that is guaranteed to get your attention.  Courtesy of a guest star, however, Deodato also gets to draw some technology and the results are just as eye-popping.  I also continue to enjoy how Beredo has changed his game here, going for a much lighter shades, giving the story a more “mythic” feel that emphasizes it’s taking place in another time and in another, very different place.

Speaking of that guest star, it’s a genuine surprise that, despite coming out of left field, is a perfect fit for this story.  Moreover, it gives us a familiar character to latch onto in this arc full of strange faces.  Better still, it emphasizes the timelessness of the character and, by extension, the timelessness of this story insofar as how it relates to the present.  He’s really a great fit and I’ll admit to geeking out a bit when he showed up.  It was a really great move by Bendis.

Conclusion:  There’s not much to say about this comic that I didn’t say about the last issue – it’s absolutely excellent for all of the same reasons that last month’s issue was excellent.  This is an identical different sort of Bendis book with fantastic artwork.  The difference between last issue and this 1, however, is the addition of that fantastic new guest star, which raise the book to another level.  I ideating some might begrudge this book’s featuring no Avengers or X-Men whatsoever, despite the admittedly misleading cover.  That may be truthful….but it’s still a great comic.

Grade: B+

-Alex Evans

Filed under: Marvel Comics, Reviews Tagged: Alex Evans, Avengers, Avengers Vs X-Men, AvX, Brian Michael Bendis, Comic Book Reviews, comic reviews, Iron Fist, K’un Lun, Leonardo Da Vinci, Marvel Comics, Marvel Universe, Mike Deodato, New Avengers, New Avengers #26, Phoenix, Phoenix Force, SHIELD, SHIELD comic, The New Avengers #26 review, Weekly Comic Book Review, Yu Ti
Weekly Comic Book Review

by Ed Brubaker (writer), Patrick Zircher (art), Paul Mounts (colors), and Joe Caramagna (letters)

The Story: Someone’s leaking SHIELD intel to a vigilante who’s taken to killing reformed criminals in SHIELD’s witness protection program.

The Review:  As another arc of the relaunched Captain America begins, the same problem rears its take again.  Put simply, the story here is far from high concept.  In fact, it’s pretty unoriginal and unimaginative.  At surface level, it’s another story about a Punisher type villain, this time Scourge, who’s KILLING the bad guys and, as such, the heroes have to stop him.  It’s just an extremely basic, familiar premise, much as the core concept behind last arc’s plot (Steve loses his powers) was also extremely basic.  I’m not sure if this is a sign that Brubaker is running out of steam for Cap, but it’s a bit upsetting how simple the core plot is.

It’s not wholly bad news however; while the plot may be familiar, there are enough elements and mysteries to it to keep you reading.  The identity of Scourge is completely up in the air and unknown and Brubaker also lets us know that HYDRA is, somehow, involved, but literally tells us no more than some yelling “HAIL HYDRA.”  At the very least, these teases will keep you going and keep you interested in what would otherwise be a fairly by the numbers plot.

Moreover, I’ll admit to being a sucker for “superheroes do detective-served” storylines.  Hell, Batman made a career of it.  There’s always something smart and extremely down to earth about these sorts of stories that I acknowledging.  Cap isn’t battling cosmic entities here, nor is he protecting or avenging the deaths of any big name heroes.  Rather, Scourge is killing former criminals under SHIELD’s protection, guys who are either random AIM thugs or D-list, forgotten villains.  The result is a story that felt much smaller, more incorporated, and hence more focused.  There’s a sense in which the heroes have to put their brains to work here.  There’s also a great scene where Diamondback and Dum Dum visit a crime scene that had a very “Gotham Central” vibe to it.  There’s something innately satisfying about seeing superheroes, particularly in plain clothes, visiting a crime scene, exercising jurisdiction, and looking for clues.  At the very least, it makes for something a little different.

That said, as much as I like detective work, there’s a crucial scene that comes FAR too easily for Cap.  Figuring out who leaked the info to Scourge is no more difficult then simply looking it up on a computer and heading to an office.  It’s pretty anticlimactic and lazy on Brubaker’s part, a clear cutting of corners.

While the relaunched Cap has had a rocky road, one thing that has been consistently excellent has been the artwork.  First Steve McNiven, then Alan Davis, and now Patrick Zircher have lended their skills to the book.  Zircher’s work here is excellent and a great fit for Cap.  It reminds me a bit of Bryan Hitch at his very peak, but with a slight noir edge and a fantastic, but subdued, sense of drama.  It’s never overly flashy or bombastic, but Zircher’s mastery of his craft is clear on every page.  I also loved the way he laid out his action scenes, which was extremely dynamic.

Conclusion:  While the core plot may be uninspired, there are a divide of elements going into it that hold a lot of promise.

Grade: B-

-Alex Evans

Filed under: Marvel Comics, Reviews Tagged: AIM, Alex Evans, Avengers, Captain America, Captain America #11, Comic Book Reviews, comic reviews, Diamondback, Dum Dum Dugan, Ed Brubaker, Hydra, Marvel Comics, Marvel Universe, Patrich Zircher, Scourge, Sharon Carter, SHIELD, Steve Rogers, weekly comic book reviewc
Weekly Comic Book Review

lot of 9 comic books

US $10.00 End Date: Friday May-18-2012 9:59:30 PDT Buy It Now for only: US $10.00 Buy it now | Add to watch list

A SET OF 3 SPIDERMAN: EYES WITHOUT A FACE COMIC BOOKS - MARVEL NOIR COMICS (M14)

US $10.00 (0 Bid) End Date: Friday May-18-2012 9:59:38 PDT Bid now | Add to watch list

US $3.95 End Date: Friday May-18-2012 10:07:29 PDT Buy It Now for only: US $3.95 Buy it now | Add to watch list