Adam Graham's Blog: Christians and Superheroes, page 28

Book Review: Doctor Who: The Child of Time

Doctor Who: The Child of Time by Jonathan Morris

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This book collects the first twenty-two Doctor Who Magazine comic strips featuring Matt Smith’s 11th Doctor along with Amy Pond. Like the last Tenth Doctor collection, the Crimson Hand, this collection features one writer (in this case Doctor Who Novelist/Audio Script Writer Jonathan Morris) writing his own series of Doctor Who in comic strip with an ongoing plot, only this time, there’s a TV series that runs concurrent to the comic stories.

Supernature (421-423): The Doctor and Amy land on a mysterious Earth colony where the colonists are prisoners (though that has little plot relevance) and mysterious monsters are appearing.. It’s a pretty standard Doctor Who story that’s well-done. It’s a good first run for both the 1th Doctor in Comics and Morris as his writer. Grade: B

Bollywood (424): It’s Doctor Who as a Bollywood musical. Have to be honest that much of this goes over my head as I’ve never seen a Bollywood musical, but a short ten page comic strip were colorful characters break out to song is quite fun. Grade: B

The Golden Ones (425-428): A brilliant colorful UNIT story in Japan featuring kids being memorized by a strange drink and a TV show. Love this story with a nice return of a classic Doctor Who monster. Will say this story has the most dubious look for Amy. Don’t really see pigtails as something she would wear. Grade: A-

The Professor, the Queen, and the Bookshop (429): Reimagining Doctor Who as a sort of C.S. Lewis fantasy story. It’s so-so with a little too much fanboying for a ten-page story. Still, it’s better than The Doctor, the Widow, and the Wardrobe. Art by Rob Davis really fits the mood. Grade: B-

The Screams of Night (430-431): The Doctor and Amy Arrive in 1860s France where several young women are becoming opera stars….but at a price. Solid, creepy story, helped by some very good visuals. Grade: B+

Do Not Go Into that Gentle Good Night (432): Elderly people without relatives are disappearing from a nursing home. A surprising, well done, and emotionally resonant story. Grade: A

Forever Dreaming (433-434): I was initially taken aback by the weird art of this story, but as I understood the strange psychedelic locale, I realized the art was odd with a reason, and this one case were very stylized art works a treat. In this story, the Doctor and Amy land on a beach planet, the Doctor tells Amy to run, and then turns to sand. And the story gets crazier from there. Grade: A

Apotheosis (435-437): The Doctor and Amy arrive on a weird alien planet where there’s a time field that ages people and a lot of mystery. This story ups Steve Moffat’s silliness of militarized priest by offering us armed nuns in full habits. It’s absurd but not in a good way. The plot works in a lot of good twists. and leads in to the conclusion of the book’s arc. Grade: B

The Child of Time (438-441): This is one of those arcs I like. There are a few panels that give hints that something is going on, but nothing that interferes with enjoying all the other stories. The Doctor and Amy have to stop a paradoxical girl from becoming the absolute ruler of the universe who is worshipped by Androids. The story finds the Doctor meeting Alan Turing and the Bronte sisters, fully armed with weapons. It’s a timey-wimey extravaganza worthy of the TV show, but better than most of the TV series finales (though not quite as good as the Series 5 finale that readers would have just seen.) It manages to use the power of the comic genre to tell a story that is fantastic and visually beyond anything you could do on TV. A good end to Johnny Morris really lovely run. Grade: A-

These Panini Doctor Who collections are notable for including commentaries by writers and artists in the back. This gives some great insight into their inspirations and curative processes. This one is particularly entertaining as we learn at-length the challenges that come with trying to tell a story arc while there’s a TV series running. Morris kept trying to come up with the sort of stories that Moffat would do in order to meet TV audience’s expectations but he did too good a job as he kept having plotlines scrubbed by Cardiff. It’s a fascinating read to go along with some really good creative Doctor Who comics.




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Book Review: The Shepherd's Tale (Serenity, #3)

The Shepherd's Tale by Joss Whedon

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


We, at last, learn the true origin of Shepherd Book. It examines the decisions that lead to his joining the crew of Serenity and ultimately his end in the movie. It takes a look at short vignettes and moves chronologically backwards through his life to reveal this.

So many questions are answered in a brief book that gives the character explanation without overwhelming with too many details or storylines.

Overall,a great book for Firefly fans.



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Book Review: Batman Beyond, Volume 3: The Long Payback

Batman Beyond, Volume 3: The Long Payback by Dan Jurgens

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This book collects seven issues of Batman Beyond.

The first six issues are a classic Dan Jurgens “six-issue fight scene” for the most part mixed with callbacks to the TV show. It’s all about a vendetta against Terry as he fights three villains who are attacking because one villain has a grudge against him.

The other big plot development is that one character takes up a crimefighting mantle and it’s telegraphed throughout all six issues that this is going to happen, so there’s no real surprise.
Personally, I think that three volumes in, Terry’s just got to have a story where he’s just Batman doing crimefighting and crime-solving rather than each storyline being a big focus on establishing Batman and dropping villain names from the TV series like there’s no tomorrow.

The art by Bernard Chang is a big highlight of the book and does elevate the quality. He also contributes a one issue story that finds Terry (in the past) trying to stop a bomb from going off and encountering key foes from the past but in a fun and fast-paced way. The story is a tad confusing but it’s still better than most of the rest of the book.




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Book Review: Green Lanterns, Vol. 6: A World of Our Own

Green Lanterns, Vol. 6: A World of Our Own by Tim Seeley

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


The first volume after Sam Humphries' great run on this series and it's not good.

It starts off okay in the first story with the Green Lanterns rescuing a piece of underground dwelling aliens, bur this is balanced against the plot of Jessica and Simon each seeking out crummy jobs and offering full disclosure in the interview about gaps in their resume in the least flattering way possible. Jessica explains that she and Simon have a hard time because they're brown people with bad resumes even though they're heroes in space, a line that felt totally out of place.

The second story is about a bounty hunter coming to Earth fleeing a contract by a mysterious space woman who is actually somewhat intriguing though never really explored.

The final story finds Jessica and Simon returning to help the aliens they rescued in the first story because they are on a world that doesn't want or trust them. It's essentially, a ham-fisted political analogy about refugees and immigration with several non-sensical plot twists.

Overall, new writer Tim Seeley doesn't get these characters and fails to tell a compelling narrative, transforming the two Green Lanterns odd couple buddy cups into flying tropes that aren't near as compelling as the characters Sam Humphries made so good.



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Book Review: Ms. Marvel, Volume 5: Secret Invasion

Ms. Marvel, Volume 5: Secret Invasion by Brian Reed

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Ms. Marvel is a natural match for this event with her Kree powers.

In the first half of the book, there's a Skrull replacement for Miss Marvel running around and her own team is set to bring her in. I think this is very well-handled. There's also a really cool bit in the first issue where we get to see Carol Danvers' first meeting with the Skrull done in vintage 1960s style. Things don't go well and she ends the first half of the book in a pathetic state.

But then we get into the proper tie-in to Secret Invasion and Ms. Marvel returns to deal with the Skrull invasion of Manhattan. Not only does the story have a very good bit of action, it also shows Miss Marvel at her best and she's at her best when she's hitting things and being able to be a warrior. This book works because it allows her to shine while also setting up some mystery for the next volume.



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Book Review: Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor, Time Trials Vol 3: A Confusion of Angels

Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor, Time Trials Vol 3: A Confusion of Angels by Richard Dinnick

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book collects a single story in Issues 10-13 of Year Three of the Twelfth Doctor Adventures. The Doctor, Nardole, and Bill land on a ship owned by Tenth Doctor foe Max Capricorn. The ship is full of the Hosts, the robot "Hosts" (shaped like angels0 from the Doctor Who story, "The Voyage of the Damned," and the Weeping Angels also appear in the story, and if that's not enough continuity for you, an old foe of the Ninth Doctor re-appears in a form that it makes no sense for her to be in.

This sounds like a recipe for bad fan fiction, however writer Richard Dinnick deserves credit for knowing what some Doctor Who writers don't know. You can have all the fun toys you want, but at the end of the day, you have to buckle down and tell a good story. Dinnick does just that. We have multiple mysteries, some action scenes, and a couple good old fashioned cliffhangers.

The art is also a lot of fun. The Hosts and the Weeping are visually very good together and the art is top notch. Some of the fan service is a little silly, but this is a nice read for fans of the 12th Doctor and Doctor Who in general.



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Book Review: Ms. Marvel Vol. 4: Monster Smash: Monster Smash

Ms. Marvel Vol. 4: Monster Smash: Monster Smash v. 4 (Ms. Marvel by Brian Reed

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


We get seven issues and two stories.

First up is the three-part story Puppets. Puppets does some nice things. It really strengthens Operation Lightning Storm by introducing Robotman and the the giant stalking character of the Sleepwalker. They (particularly Machine Man) have a solid time. With Miss Marvel, we get to see the level of concern to Anya. The Puppet Master makes a sick villain.

The four-part "Monster and the Marvel" story finds Carol dragged off by the Cru to Monster Island as Carol retained a part of the Cru which explains her high healing factor. However, their powers are turned off and they find the Brood are on the island. This is a decent action story with a lot of madacap moments.

Overall, this is the best Miss Marvel so far with two strong stories that provide some key insight into Carol's character.



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Book Review: Star Wars Legends Epic Collection: The Original Marvel Years, Vol. 1

Star Wars Legends Epic Collection: The Original Marvel Years, Vol. 1 by Roy Thomas

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book collects the original Marvel Star Wars comics from the 1970s with Issues 1-23 of the US Marvel comics and serialized stories originally printed in the UK Comic.

The book can be divided into several sections:

Issues 1-6: The original film adaptation. Early issues came out before the film was released and is different in several places from the theatrical version. The story shows that Hans shot the bounty hunter remorselessly and we get to see how Jaba the Hutt was originally imagined. On the negative side, there are several lines of dialogue that lack the oomph of the film version. I lean towards blaming the fact that the final script wasn't used than writer Roy Thomas.

The art by Howard Chaykin is not all that great, and in some cases, he ruins scenes with weird expression and poor artistic choices. This doesn't capture the grandeur of A New Hope. The issues aren't bad but they are far more middling than they should be.

Issues 7-10: Hans and Chewie leave the rebellion to settle up their debts, only to be robbed by a space pirate. They then lay low, but find work gathering a team of mercaneries to protect a bunch of peasants being harassed by bandits. Essentially, this is the Magnificent Seven meets Star Wars. The plot is a decent idea and several of the character are interesting, although the Don Quixote homage is silly.

The writing has some rough moments as Hans references not having been to Sunday School, which is an odd thing to say in another galaxy. The art is a bit uneven, but not as disappointing as in the opener.

Issues 11-15: Hans captured by the same space pirate. Hans want to take the pirate's ship (which is a captured Emperial cruiser) and turn it over to the rebellion but his plans go awry when he discovers Leia is a prisoner on the ship. Leia left the rebellion to find Luke, who had gone on a recon mission and finds himself fighting in a war against the Dragon Riders. The story is written by Archie Goodwin with the art by Carmine Infantino (with Walt Simonsen spotting Infantino every now and again.) This story and the next big one were very well-written and exactly the sort of thing I expect the Star Wars heroes between movies.

Issue 16: A one-shot that features none of the movie characters. Valance, a bounty hunter, goes after members of Hans and Chewie's team from Issues 7-10, hoping to learn about Luke. The story has a clever twist at the end that leaves me hoping Valance re-appears.

Issue 17: A tale of Luke before A New Hope. Far better than I thought it would be as it holds your interest without too much fan service.

Issues 18-23: Luke goes into a coma and Hans and Leia take him to the Wheel, a gambling space station that's not under the Empire's jurisdiction, but the Empire's trying to change that by staging robberies and framing the Rebellion. At the same time, Darth Vader re-emerges hunting for Luke. There are a number of parallels to Empire Strikes Back as they're on a station run by an unscrupulous gambler who's willing to sell them out for his own benefit while the Empire closes in.

Pizazz #1-#9: From the UK magazine Pizazz, these three-page serialized stories focused on Luke and Leia going out to bring other groups into the Rebel Alliance but they're forced out of space by the Empire and land on a planet with mysterious children on it. Not bad, but felt more "Star Trek" than "Star Wars."

Pizazz #10-16 and Star Wars Weekly #60: Three page continue until Pizazz was cancelled with the rest of the story being published in Star Wars Weekly. Luke and Leia arrive on an ice planet where creatures called Snow Demons steal the Droids. However, it appears Luke and Leia will be fine, but unfortunately for them, everything's not as it seems. A very fun adventure.

Overall, despite a few rough issues, this is a fun collection filled with great swashbuckling stories in between movies and requires next to no extra continuity knowledge. Well worth reading.



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Book Review: Essential Marvel Two-in-One, Volume 2

Essential Marvel Two-in-One, Vol. 2 by Marv Wolfman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


It's Clobberin' time in this massive collection of Ben Grimm comic stories from the late 1970s, featuring Issues 26-52 and Annuals #2 and #3. A summary of each issue:

Issues 26 and 27: Nick Fury warns the Thing that Mentallo and the Fixer are going to kidnap him and the two succeed in doing so in a plan where kidnapping Ben leads to attempting to assassinate Jimmy Carter and that's not even their main goal. Issue #27 is essentially a Fantastic Four comic rather than a Thing comic.

Issue 28: The Thing's en route to London and gets drawn into an undersea battle with Pirahnna, fighting along the Sub-mariner.

Issues 29-33: The Thing in London to find a scientist to help Deathlok. Key stories in establishing Spider-woman (Jessica Drew) as a hero. Pretty well-done and shows Ben's concern for Alicia Masters.

Issue 34: One last London comic as Ben teams up with Nighthawk after an apparently monstrous alien is freed from a rock. The alien is not as monstrous as he looks, but tell mankind that. A classic Sci-Fi story.

Issues 35 and 36: As often happens in these stories, the Thing is cleaning up an old plot line. In this case, he goes into the Bermuda Triangle to deal with an anomaly and gets dragged back in time to another dimension and meets Skull the Slayer (from a discontinued Marvel Comic series) and they have to get home. The Thing battles dinosaurs and the comic is a lot of fun.

Annual #2: Spider-man is summoned in a dream by Moondragon to help the Avengers who are being imprisoned by Thanos and Spidey turns to the Thing because he needs a spaceship and that's the sort of thing Reed Richards leaves lying around. Good story, even though it feels more like a Spider-man story than a Thing story.

Issues 37-39: The FF was dissolved and the Thing finds himself going on rampages that destroy property and is thrown in jail. His attorney Matt Murdoch (aka Daredevil) suspects something's wrong when he hears a noise around the Thing. A supervillain is behind it and it takes a couple more guest stars to straighten things out.

Issues 40 and 41: Prominent black citizens are being kidnapped. A so-so story featuring Black Panther and Doctor Voodoo.

Issues 42 and 43: Ben follows up on his ex-ward Wundar, who's being studied as part of Project Pegasus. He fights with and teams up with Captain America. The story features a no-name villain and the second story features Man-Thing and ends how most Man-Thing stories do.

Annual #3: Monitors come to Earth to "judge" it and they find every planet imperfect. It's up to the Thing and Nova to save the day.

Issue 44: The Thing tells kids of his team up with Hercules to figght in Mount Olympus. A little ambiguity if it's true (or Ben's trying to impress the kids), but still fun.

Issue 45: The story begins with the Thing shot up by a '20s gangster which annoys him. Convoluted story featuring Skrulls and Captain Marvel.

Issue 46: Meta story where the Thing is jealous of the Hulk's TV show and goes to Hollywood to get his own show and ends up facing off against the Hulk who hates the show.

Issues 47 and 48: Team up with the Yancy Street Gang (really?) but they're all overcome by the Machinesmith and it's up to that new hero, the Jack of Hearts, to save the day. Yeah, I don't know anything about him either.

Issue 49: Writer Mary Jo Duffy puts Ben in the middle of a Dark Shows homage. A good idea for a story guest starring Doctor Strange.

Issue 50: Writer/Artist John Byrne features a story where the Thing goes back in time to cure his past self of being the Thing. Ludicrous plot, nice look at how the character changed from Fantastic Four #1.

Issue 51: Ben and Nick Fury head for a poker game at the Avengers Mansion for a poker game with Wonder Man and Miss Marvel. Some great art by Frank Miller on the game and some smack talk from Ben Grimm. Villains show up and our fought but that's secondary to establishing this poker game exists.

Issue 52: A man is killed right in front of the Thing and Ben insists he doesn't need the help of "Johnny come lately" hero Moon Knight. He gets it anyway. Features one of the best villains in the book.

Overall, a solid book despite some weaker issues. The book has a lot of fun stories even though few of the co-stars are Marvel A-listers, Ben manages to save the world a few times while rapping up a few stray storylines, and getting brainwashed three times. Good Bronze Age fun.



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Book Review: Batman: Detective Comics, Vol. 6: Fall of the Batmen

Batman: Detective Comics, Vol. 6: Fall of the Batmen by James Tynion IV

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book collects Detective Comics #969-974 and the Annual #1.

Tim Drake is back and determined not to become future crazy Tim Drake and willing to do anything to strengthen his Batmen program. Meanwhile, the Victim Syndicate returns with a plan that begins by kidnapping Clayface inside Arkham Asylum and the Mayor wants Batman alone to deal with him.

This is the type of story that makes it worth it having stuck through the more mediocre second to fourth Volumes. This has a lot of great action and wonderful visuals but at the same time, it tells a great story and it's full of emotional moments that address who the lead characters are and who they're becoming.

In addition, this story explores some ideas or questions such as forgiveness and the possibility of redemption, but does it an open and subtle way.

Overall, this is a splendid story, well worth a read.



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