Comics Reviews (May 20, 2015)

Guardians of the Galaxy #27

I take it that this is the last issue before it goes on vacation for Secret Wars. In which case it’s a rushed, sloppy, and pointless issue that provides nothing like a satisfying stopping point and demonstrates the abject stupidity of wasting this book in a bad crossover during the lead-in.

Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor #12

Love the opening section, which is another fantastic set of Bowie riffs. The subsequent sections kind of stall for time before eventually resolving into a neat cliffhanger. But very much a filler issue, I fear.

Loki: Agent of Asgard #14

I find that Ewing’s Loki stories tend to start slow for me and then work themselves out later in the plot, so I’m sure this will pick up for me, but I found almost every section dealing with Odin a bit of a drag. Part of this is just that I don’t much like Marvel’s Odin, but it’s also a place where the Secret Warsness of it doesn’t really hold together, as this book seems to be pursuing a different apocalypse than the rest of the Marvel Universe. Loki and Verity are always great though.

Daredevil #15.1

Not sure why an ending book needs a .1 issue, but as filler fluff goes, not bad. Unconvinced of the merit or necessity of the second story, but the first one is a solid Daredevil story. Oh, wait. We just had the TV series. That’s why there’s a .1 issue. In any case, fun.

Ultimate End #1

Interesting. This serves as the first bit of Secret Wars to show us Manhattan, and turns out to be a fairly integral chunk of the plot, at least on first inspection. Certainly there’s more 616 than I expected. And really, it’s nice to have a tie-in mini that would have been perfectly justifiable as an event in its own right.

Uncanny X-Men #34

Oh boy. I can’t wait for the next issue. When’s it coming out? Oh. October.

More seriously, good issue. Basically a Dazzler one-shot. There are not enough comics featuring Dazzler. Really impressed with Anka’s art too. Nice, clean storytelling. The denouement of Bendis’s X-Men run has been completely fucked by the release schedule, but it’s also been good stuff.

Trees #9

No concessions to accessibility. None. But it’s hard not to love its sheer lack of compromise. I’m not even sure I have a detailed opinion; lord knows I neither followed nor remember the first arc of Trees well enough to even quite pin down who the characters here are. And yet I enjoyed it, simply because looking at something this smart and well-done is pleasurable. Just as sitting down with it all when it’s done will be.

A-Force #1

Smart, accessible, and it has Miss America Chavez to boot. This is apparently not just a Secret Wars book, although its initial premise is very much grounded in that, and I have to admit, I’m excited for it. Excellent jumping on point, even if you’re not following the crossover. Very much recommend checking this out.