Adam Graham's Blog: Christians and Superheroes, page 24

Book Review: Super Sons, Volume 3: Parent Trap

Super Sons, Volume 3: Parent Trap by Peter J. Tomasi

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book collects the final four issues of Super Sons and Annual #1 for a total of three stories:

Animal Planet (Annual #1): The Super Pets team up to investigate a series of pet thefts. Overall, a cute and fun Annual.

The Parent Trap (13 and 14): Damian's mother shows up and like any good mom wants her son to help her kill someone. Damian refuses but realizes he'll have to stop her when he learns who the target is. This story gives some insight into Damian's past and how Jon doesn't fully understand it, but we also get some subtle notes which underscore why they are friends.

End of Innocence (15 and 16); Amazo trashes the Super Sons' headquarters, but that's only a preliminary to Amazo's ultimate goal: taking over the Justice League. A nice story that gives the Super Sons a chance to rise to the occassion and also provides a nice closing story for the series.

Overall, this was a very fun close to one of my favorite DC Rebirth books.



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Book Review: Marvel Masterworks: The Uncanny X-Men, Vol. 1

Marvel Masterworks: The Uncanny X-Men, Vol. 1 by Chris Claremont

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


The X-men may have been created in the 1960s, but this series began the X-men as we know them today. This book collects Giant X-Men #1 and X-Men 94-100, the first new X-men comics in years.

In Giant X-Men #1, Professor Xavier recruits several mutants to help rescue the X-men and then in Issue 94, we get a line-up where the only original X-men on the team is Cyclops and he's supported by an international team including Storm, Colossus, and Wolverine.

The X-men fight Count Nefaria, fight a dragon monster, and then try to deal with two of their own (including Cyclops' brother) who have been taken over, and then the book wraps up with a three-issue arc involving the return of the Sentinels and a trip into space

There's so much to love about this team. They have big heavy hitters who deliver...and deliver with style. Dave Cockrum's art is a thing of beauty, it makes the action pop, but also has some key emotional moments. The writing is good throughout with some great twists, and some nice character work.

Over the year, the X-men have become a very dense mini-universe to get involved in with so many characters and storylines that it's hard to even figure out what's going on or how to get in, but this is the good stuff. This is pure.



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Book Review:X-Men: Gambit - The Complete Collection Vol. 2

X-Men: Gambit - The Complete Collection Vol. 2 by Fabian Nicieza

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Years after the first half of Gambit’s 1999-2000 comic run was published, we get the rest of the volume as Gambit travels back in time to 1891 because he already did and in the process of fulfilling history gets his powers amped up.

When he returns, he deals with his relationship with Rogue which has always been starcrossed, but now because of his enhanced powers, they can kiss without her absorbing them, but there are other problems and I like that’s dealt with in a very grown up and thoughtful manner.

This leads to the next phase of the book where Gambit becomes leader of the Thieves Guild and also gets two contracts put on his life: one by the Assassins Guild, and one by New Son which is open to any assassin out there, and so Remy being hunted down by nearly every big assassin in the Marvel Universe at the same time.

This leads to an Annual that finally reveals what New Son is up to and who he is, and it’s actually quite clever. Most of the rest of the book builds towards a final confrontation with New Son and is mostly okay. We learn his plan for Remy at the end and it is…underwhelming. Probably the most disappointing part of this is the stupidity of New Son’s plans in light of his stated goal.

The book wraps with a single issue that introduces a new team with Scott Lobdell and Joe Pruett writing. The story involves Gamit having to repay a childhood debt to a mobster and solve the problem of his daughter’ stolen heart. It’s entertaining, even if the art’s a bit off, and sets the tone for a further series featuring Gambit and Bishop.

The book has some disappointing features, most notably New Son’s plan, and the way the forced gender change of Courier is done as I don’t understand why it was done or what they were going for. Still, I do like this book. There’s some great character and some fantastic worldbuilding regarding the Assassins and Thieves guilds.




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Book Review: All Star Comics Archives, Volume 8

All Star Comics Archives, Vol. 8 by Gardner F. Fox

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This book collects Issues 34-38 of All Star Comics. There are several big changes that occurr. First, Johnny Thunder is benched, so no adventure is saved by him saying, "Say you."

Issue 34 sees the Introduction of the Wizard, a villain who believes the Justice Society must be pretending to be heroes for some reason but really trying to make money on the side. Issue 35 features the villain Per Degaton in time travel tale that was a bit advanced for the Golden Age and also a bit confusing. Issue 36 is a tale of men corrupted by drowning in a body of water that turns them evil. Superman and Batman appear in this one and actually take part in a JSA golden age adventure for the first and only time.

Issue 37 sees the introduction of the Injustice Society and our heroes face a grim battle. Disappointment in this one is that Johnny Thunder are captured off-panel. Issue 38 sees a big shake-up as all the male JSAers are apparently killed in the first pages and Wonder Woman has to revive them with the help of Black Canary (who makes her first JSA appearance.) and we get a long adventure without individual chapters which is a first for All Star Comics.

The book features an enthusiastic introduction from comics legend Roy Thomas. Whether you agree with Thomas that this was the JSA at its best, this is certainly one of the best volumes and showed that even though the golden age was nearing an end, this book wasn't running out of steam at all. My complaints are mostly minor. This book is a classic must-read if you're a fan of Golden Age comics.



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Book Review: Batman Beyond, Volume 4: Target: Batman

Batman Beyond, Volume 4: Target: Batman by Dan Jurgens

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Everybody hates Batman for seemingly no reason. Well, Terry McGuinness' girlfriend hates him for a reason because after coming onto her real strong in the third volume, she sees him making out with a blonde who he met back in the TV series, but everyone else hates Batman and has determined that Batman must die. Of course, the real reason is Supervillain.

The problems with this book are multiple. The Matt as the new Robin storyline is being shoved forward by Jurgens even if it means having Bruce send out an unprepared and undisciplined to fight crime. It's like this almost fan fictiony that the writer wants to happen and he's going to make it happen even if he has to violate every character and can't make the readers care about it.

At the same time, the storyline is once again Batman at the center of a story where it's all about people targeting him and as a result of something Bruce did and we of course get something lecturing Bruce about how he's responsible for all of this because...Batman Beyond, I guess.

Some of this can be fine, particularly if it's well done, but at some point, Batman's got to put on his cape and fight a battle where he's not the main target, and where the villain isn't just acting up because of Terry or Bruce's past actions. At this point, I'm giving up on Dan Jurgens figuring this out.



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Book Review: Avengers Epic Collection: Operation Galactic Storm

Avengers Epic Collection: Operation Galactic Storm by Bob Harras

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


It's a 19-part cross-over saga told across seven different magazines with an epilogue chapter thrown in. This isn't the type of book I'd usually go for, but this was actually pretty good as the Avengers try to stop the Kree and Shiar from destroying the Earth in the course of their war.

This works because the book manages a delicate balance. Each issue needs to feel like a chapter in the ongoing saga while also feeling like they really are a part of their own book, and it succeeds. The story moves and their action, adventure, personal issues, and of course, the West Coast Avengers worrying about being seen as good as the regular Avengers. (Though actually that's mainly Hawkeye.)

I'll be honest that I'm not a big fan of the ending chapter, but I don't think it's the worst thing ever, and I did enjoy the journey the book took. Overall, it's a pretty good read, particularly the Captain America and Quesar chapters.



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Book Review: The Batman Chronicles, Vol. 8

The Batman Chronicles, Vol. 8 by Don Cameron

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This book collects Batman stories from Detective Comics #71-74, Batman #14 and #15 and World's Finest #8 and #9rd the ar

In the book, there are appearances by four major Batman villains and one had another minor one. The Catwoman story is really good and features Batman and Catwoman seeming to get together for a while. The Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum story is great for just how weird and unsettling they look. The Penguin story is pretty good. I thought the Penguin story had a clever idea of him selling crime ideas, but he was way more brutal than the Penguin typically is. The Joker story contains the very silly idea of Batman delivering public lectures is a bit silly. The Scarecrow story is very generic.

Add to that, you have a touching Christmas story and another tale that seems to pay tribute to the honorable drugist.

These aren't all bad, however the quality isn't as good as some other volumes.



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Book Review: Spider-Man: The Complete Alien Costume Saga, Book 1

Spider-Man: The Complete Alien Costume Saga, Book 1 by Tom DeFalco

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book collects about six months worth of Spider-man comics across three titles when he returned from the Secret Wars saga with an alien costume.

The actual costume is in all three books but doesn't play as major a role as you would expect, particularly if you grew up on Spider-man stories where the Black costume enhanced his powers. None of that is represented here. The suit is there, but the real twist doesn't come up until the last two issues of Amazing in the book and a little in the last Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-man story. Since the storyline didn't cross much, the best way to look at by is according to the particular magazine:

Amazing Spider-man #252-#258: It begins with Spidey's triumphant return from the Secret War, where all those returning have agreed not to tell the rest of humanity what happened but to tease it at lot so the readers would go out and buy Secret Wars. #258 is a great start to Tom DeFalco's full-fledged on Amazing. However, the book follows with more seeming random villain of the month stuff as Spidey encounters a Football tempted to go crooked in #253, battles the Jack-o-Lantern #254, and faces off against the Red Ghost in #255. There is some connection between these and the ongoing which begins to emerge with #256 when the new Supervillain the Rose hires the Puma to assassinate Spider-man which conflicts with what Kingpin's doing in Petar Parker, the Spectacular Spider-man. We also see Mary Jane re-asserting herself and get a shocking revelation from here. The real core of addressing the costume itself, comes in about half of Issue #258, though that does have some iconic art and it also features the disturbing image of the costume taking Spider-man's body out webslinging without his knowledge.

Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-man (#90-#95); To me, this is the most interesting magazine in the book. The key point is that in order to pull her wait as part of a team with Spider-man, Black Cat acquired superpowers and she got them from the Kingpin. Her powers allow her to change the luck of anyone who attacks her. However, she's keeping a secret from her erstwhile lover Spider-man. The Kingpin is really working a plan, though we don't get to see how it all plays out in this book, but he's manipulating so many figures and is aided by the Answer, a guy who makes a superb henchman known as the Answer. Cloak and Dagger become involved and we leave with the story not quite resolved.

Marvel Team-Up (#141-145 and Annual #7): The Spider-man team-up book is the weak link. Not only doesn't the title address the costume much, it's clear that this team-up title has become obligatory more than anything else. That's not to say the stories are all bad, but qualitywise, it's a bit of a crapshoot. There's a pretty good team up with Daredevil, though it seems to be continuing from previous stories. There's a decent two-parter between Spider-man and Captain Marvel (Monica Rambeau) and Star Fox to save the World and then save an Avenger. Then, there's a fair team-up with Moon Knight. The last Annual with Alpha Flight is a bit dull and tedious, and the final team-up between Spider-man and Jim Rhones which is actually a story to make us feel bad for wailed villain Whiplash is painful to read.

Overall, though the goodness of Amazing and Spectacular covers for the lackluster team up and this is a very solid era for Spidey comics even if the Alien costume seems tenuous at best.



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Book Review: The Life of Captain marvel

The Life Of Captain Marvel (The Life Of Captain Marvel by Margaret Stohl

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I was expecting an epic retelling of Carol Danvers' origins with some major changes. The hype led me to expect no less. What I got was a lot less.

First of all, what's good about this book? The art is actually pretty decent. In addition, the novel restores Carol's classic hairstyle, which is a nice change.

The rest of the book doesn't do a whole lot for Carol's character. The first big change is to add more daddy issues for her to deal with, because there's never enough daddy issues in the comics even if they cut against your main retcon.

Carol goes back to her old hometown and lets a relative get into a car wreck because Carol was too busy destroying her dad's headstone. Carol doesn't have any amazing victory and if not for her showing up in her small town, at least one relative would still be alive at the end of the book. She fights no Supervillains but still manages to lose big.

The characters are uninteresting. Whether it's Carol, her brother, her mom, or her bland ex-boyfriend, none of these characters pop or are worth remembering. The book's big goal seems to be to tinker with Carol's backstory enough so that Mar-Vell of the Kree has less to do wih her getting her powers.

Disappointing



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Book Review: Nightwing, Volume 7: Bleeding Edge

Nightwing, Vol. 7: The Bleeding Edge by Benjamin Percy

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This was my favorite Nightwing Volume since DC Rebirth. The first part of the book is set in Bludhaven as a new software promises people the abiliity to manipulate their environment, but of course there's something more nefarious afoot. Nightwing follows the evil plan to Gotham where the evil plan involves fake news and media manipulation. The events of that part of the story lead Nightwing to a no-holds-barred race on a mysterious island with a moral dilemma coming along with the prize if he wins...and survives.

This book does a great job exploring the conerns many have about technology without going preachy. The ideas are well-thought out and often unsettling. I also love Barbara Goardon in this. This is yet another book where Barbara is better written than she is in her own series.

Overall, this was engaging and fun and really left me eager for the next volume.



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