The event that Rick Remender has been hinting at since the beginning of Marvel Now! The story that he has been setting up throughout both his Uncanny Avengers and Captain America runs is finally here! The event that will change…ah screw it that joke’s not funny anymore. So yes, Marvel’s latest event, Avengers & X-Men: Axis has begun, and boy has it been a while since Marvel’s last event (for the record, Original Sin ended a grand total of five weeks ago). Who wants to bet that Marvel is going to announce its next “Game-changing” event halfway through this one? I mean they announced Axis before Original Sin even began. Anyway, event-fatigue aside, I have been looking forward to this book since it was announced, and now that I finally got to read issue one, how does this book begin the next event? [Read more…] about Avengers & X-Men: Axis #1 Review! World War Hate Begins!
Guardians 3000 #1 Review! Live, Die, Repeat
They’re baaaaack! The original Guardians of Galaxy created by Arnold Drake and Gene Colan back in 1969, are the 31st century cosmic superhero team from Earth-691. This particular team got its own solo series back in the early 1990s, which was written and drawn by Jim Valentino. After its cancelation, this team drifted around in almost total obscurity unless you were a hardcore old-school Marvel Cosmic fan, until Dan Abnett and Andy Landing introduced several members as guest-stars in their acclaimed Guardians of the Galaxy reboot. So now with the success of the Guardians of Galaxy film, writer Dan Abnett and artist Gerardo Sandoval return to the 31st century to continue the adventures of the original Guardians. So how does this issue do introducing audiences to a Guardians team that doesn’t have a talking raccoon? [Read more…] about Guardians 3000 #1 Review! Live, Die, Repeat
Bucky Barnes: The Winter Soldier #1 Review! Style Over Substance, This Time
After the announcement that the second Captain America film was going to feature The Winter Soldier, first everyone went onto Wikipedia to look up who he was; and second, everyone knew he would be getting his own title to capitalize on the film. At first Marvel published Winter Soldier: The Bitter March written by Rick Remender, which was great and I highly recommend checking it out, around the time the film was released. Now, following the events of Original Sin, Bucky has been given his very own ongoing title written by Ales Kot and drawn by Marco Rudy, but IN SPACE! So how does the first issue of a series that Marvel released to capitalize on the success of the films, which is also spinning off a Marvel event no one talked about, pan out? [Read more…] about Bucky Barnes: The Winter Soldier #1 Review! Style Over Substance, This Time
Amazing X-Men #11 Review! Not Much Of A War At All
Chris Yost and Craig Kyle’s tale about an army of Wendigos spreading across Canada, continuously growing in number, trudges along in the penultimate issue. This issue adds an interesting new level to the story by turning what could be summarized as a zombie story with werewolves, and adding more mystical, godlike elements that should vastly increase the scale and tension to this arc. So, how does issue 11 set things up for the final battle in issue 12?
We begin this issue with the Avengers and Alpha Flight testing out what happens when the Wendigos leave Canada and enter the United States. Since the curse only works on Canadian soil, right when they cross the border, they revert back to human. Captain America states that the Avengers will control the Wendigo plague as best they can and allow the X-Men enough time to stop the problem at the source. We then get to see Wolverine/Wendigo screaming…again…doing nothing otherwise. Hopefully he will actually get to do something in the final issue.
Cutting back to the X-Men and Alpha Flight members who entered the spirit realm last issue, we are introduced to the true villain of this series, Tanaraq. He is one of the godlike beings that draw their power from the land itself (I assume this is limited to Canada), whether it’s the snow, the tundra, or (in Tanaraq’s case) the beasts. Using the spread of the Wendigo curse to vastly increase his own power, Tanaraq intends to wipe out the rest of these beings, become the ruler of the spirit realm, and then conquer Earth itself. The major problem I have with this plot reveal is that it was introduced way too late in the game. If they had introduced this idea of the spirit world around the second or third issue, the writers could have done something cool with the idea of Gods who have been locked in an eternal conflict are suddenly thrown into complete chaos by one God taking control. Unfortunately here it reads as an easy way to up the stakes, and give the X-Men a simple method to end the Wendigo curse.
Something I found rather interesting, and I don’t know if this is because I’m not fully read up on Alpha flight, but a lot of them seem like jerks. I mentioned this last issue about Northstar (a former member), which he comes off a lot better this issue, but Aurora has a really bad attitude this entire issue. Not complaining, it’s just I’m curious if this is the best way to introduce people to Alpha Flight.
Carlo Barberi’s artwork is still good at presenting the battles between the X-Men and the Wendigos, and he also does a good job of depicting the spirits (what little they get to do here). While I do enjoy his artwork, I really wish this arc didn’t begin with Ed McGuinness because no one can draw over-muscular characters like he can, and unfortunately his first issue casts a shadow over the rest of the arc.
Overall this issue is alright; not bad, but nothing great about it. It moves along at a nice clip, there are some nice character moments here and there throughout the story, and the artwork was nice to look at. Unfortunately, nothing really stands out about this arc either. The giant plague of Wendigos started out strong, but we haven’t seen how big this thing truly is. The spirit war is cool, but it was introduced in the second to last issue. And of course the Wolverine/Wendigo who was introduced in the second issue of the arc has done a grand total of nothing this entire time. Maybe issue #12 will deliver a truly slam-bang finale to this arc, but it may be a case of too little too late.
CBH Score: 3 out of 5
New Avengers #24 Review! The Countdown to the End Continues
And so continues the fall of the Illuminati, as what began as a group of men trying to save the universe from an unknown threat, has spiraled out of control and left a group of monsters to hold the world hostage while they have their fun exterminating planet after planet. This is the second issue in the “Time Runs Out” story arc taking place between Avengers and New Avengers, and specifically picks up after the bombshell of a last page from New Avengers #23. Shaping up to be an event story without officially being an event book itself, how does this issue continue the story about the death of the all things? [Read more…] about New Avengers #24 Review! The Countdown to the End Continues