Headlining the first mini-series of Marvel’s hotly re-invigorated Star Wars franchise is the original trilogy’s leading lady. Just as feisty as ever, Princess Leia is a story demanding to be told in spite of vague strokes in this opening chapter. Although not outright mindless, it’s surprising that seasoned writer Mark Waid offers such imbalance in the fluff-to-substance ratio. [Read more…] about PRINCESS LEIA #1 Review: “Royal Solo”
AVENGERS #42 Review: “Oh, Wait– Aliens Still Hate Us…”
This week’s Avengers recovers a lot of buoyancy lost over the last couple of installments. Packed to the gills with scene changes and cast galore, Jonathan Hickman goes into overdrive crunching Marvel’s multiverse toward the Summer 2015 Secret Wars. With his run on Earth’s Mightiest wrapping in April, the writer’s renewed urgency is ably accompanied by some of artist Stefano Caselli’s strongest work. It’s such a well-paced visual delight that you almost forget a coalition of intergalactic empires is heading to Earth to pre-emptively end it. [Read more…] about AVENGERS #42 Review: “Oh, Wait– Aliens Still Hate Us…”
ALL NEW X-MEN #38 Review: “Whose Crossover Is This Anyway?”
Shipping out of sequence to accommodate the currently in-progress “Black Vortex” event story, the latest issue of All-New X-Men is the weightiest and most gripping chapter to date. Brian Michael Bendis delivers a solid script, sure enough, but the real accolades go to the art team. Until now, the adventure trades as a fairly light-hearted deep-space heist/romp team-up of the X-Men and the Guardians of the Galaxy but that all changes heading into Sorrentino-country! [Read more…] about ALL NEW X-MEN #38 Review: “Whose Crossover Is This Anyway?”
NEW AVENGERS #30 Review: “Marvel Horror Story”
Following a series of increasingly intense issues, Jonathan Hickman’s latest somehow elevates the phrase “we’re boned” to an unparalleled height. Framed largely as a sequence of flashbacks, “Beyonders” is an unrelenting twenty page tale of woe. Latter-day Illuminati members Yellowjacket and Captain Britain take the lead, in turn conveying to the Avengers that the ongoing Multiversal collapse is a terminal problem on the most macro of levels. In short, confirming that even if the heroes somehow triumph, there’s no going back. As in: there will be nothing to go back to. Their ticket is punched, one-way and irreversibly. [Read more…] about NEW AVENGERS #30 Review: “Marvel Horror Story”
UNCANNY X-MEN #31 Review: “Undo Ex Machina!”
The old adage about books and covers is definitely in effect with the latest installment of Uncanny X-Men. Advertised as dealing with fallout from Marvel’s recent Avengers & X-Men: Axis, this chapter actually serves as the conclusion to the even longer-running “The Last Will and Testament of Charles Xavier” storyline, originating as a tie-in to last summer’s Original Sin event series. Clocking in at nine parts, there is satisfaction in crossing the finish line but enjoyment mileage for the journey will definitely vary. [Read more…] about UNCANNY X-MEN #31 Review: “Undo Ex Machina!”