Comics Reviews (January 21st, 2015)
Worst to best.
Moon Knight #11
One of the most pointlessly decompressed comics I think I have ever read. All the optimism I had when the very cool twist of someone stealing Khonshu from Marc Spector has thoroughly evaporated in the face of this.
All-New X-Men #35
So, next month issue #38 of this ties in with the not-very-interesting sounding Black Vortex, which does rather make one wonder what the release schedule of this is meant to look like. I can only assume that this Ultimate Universe crossover arc was not, in fact, intended to stretch out past the announcement of how Secret Wars would be working such that it was drained of all its excitement, and that this was not meant to become the exercise in “dear god is this arc still going on” that it’s become. Oh well.
Fables #148
It says very little good about this exercise in “oh god why have I bought over 150 comics called Fables in my lifetime” that the story of Lauda, which has very little to do with anything else in the plot, is by miles the best thing going on in the issue.
Amazing Spider-Man #13
This has lost some momentum from an exciting start, but has at least gained some of it back for the finish. I have to say, though, the Uncle Ben stuff feels like it was introduced far too late in the game to have the impact that the story seems to want from it. I just can’t bring myself to get that invested in the personal struggles of an alternate universe Uncle Ben, and the conceit of “he blames his own honorable nature for everything going wrong” is, while clever, just not doing it for me. I absolutely do not look forward to his inevitable heroic sacrifice next issue.
Captain American and the Mighty Avengers #4
This finally settles into being the book it wants to be, with Ewing getting to do his take on Sam Wilson as Captain America, as opposed to Sam Wilson as evil. It’s a promising book. I wish this had gotten to be the first issue. Still, four months to enjoy this before Secret Wars comes and fucks everything up again, I guess?
Guardians of the Galaxy #23
A few pages into its last issue, Planet of the Symbiotes reaches the planet of the symbiotes. I am to some extent reviewing past issues here, but I’m at a genuine loss for why we spent two near-identical issues fighting in space instead of just letting this be a two issue arc like it really wanted to be. Still, love the final page cliffhanger.
Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor #7
An extremely compelling first half of a two-part story, with some excellent plot twists for Alice and some compelling mysteries for the other characters. I love the Eternal Dogfight, and there’s some excellent Eleven-specific beats in this. Continues to be the best Doctor Who comic ever.
Loki: Agent of Asgard #10
This promised to finally pay off the long-simmering consequences of Kieron Gillen’s landmark Journey into Mystery run, and it does so in spades, carefully and meticulously dooming Loki in a fascinating way. The final page is a doozy. I can’t wait for the next issue.
The Wicked & The Divine #7
Something of a “continue putting pieces in place” issue, with a not entirely clearly motivated side trip to the underground with Baphomet that ends up feeling like a big drop in momentum. I’m sure this will all tie together in a few issues and make more sense, but, to stay in the pop idiom of this book, it feels like we’re in the gap between two big singles. You can see what this has added to the story – Woden, in particular, is fascinating. And I assume the Prometheus Gambit will get better paid off at some point. But this is still a slightly interstitial issue.
Uber #21
Fantastic cliffhanger, another one of the book’s satisfying switches into “history textbook” narration for the big fight scene, and, all in all, another solid installment of one of the best and most thoroughly disturbing comics out there.
Crossed +100 #2
Moore continues to develop his themes. The central mystery here – what are the altars – is beautifully small, and Moore is doing interesting things with the Crossed themselves – the infection depicted in this installment is suitably unnerving. This is thus far devoid of any ostentatious flare, but is still intelligent and nuanced and exploring interesting ground. It continues to be an absolute pleasure to have this coming out.
Gallifreyan_Immigrant
January 21, 2015 @ 10:43 pm
Are you still reading Tenth Doctor comics? They've got Weeping Angels. . .
Elizabeth Sandifer
January 21, 2015 @ 11:09 pm
Actually, the Eleventh Doctor is the only one I ever picked up – I ended up buying by creative team.
You Know Who...
January 22, 2015 @ 12:56 am
You're wise to. I'm rapidly losing patience with the 12th Doctor series, which gets the character's voice right, but not much else. (In still amazed that nobody in the current arc is especially upset that the Doctor's old friend got horribly murdered by alien vampires… NOT EVEN THE MAN'S OWN DAUGHTER!)
Galadriel
January 24, 2015 @ 5:46 pm
Finally got a copy of#7 doctor who 11th. I noticed mysterious lurker in the first issue, but going purely by silhouette, I'd have said time Lord.
Martin Hudecek
January 31, 2015 @ 8:14 am
^ Are you not a fan of the latest TV run? As I found it a return to form and possibly Moffat's best as showrunner. The comic was in keeping with the Series for me. Maybe the reactions were muted to the murder, but then again he did get to meet the 4th Doctor and have a remarkable life, so perhaps that was meant to be just as important.