Adam Graham's Blog: Christians and Superheroes, page 78

Book Review: Spectacular Spider-Girl: Who Killed Gwen Reilly

Spectacular Spider-Girl: Who Killed Gwen Reilly? by Tom DeFalco

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


After the cancellation of Spider-girl, she returned as a feature in two different Spider-man magazines. This book collects Spider-girl stories from Amazing Spider-man Family 5-8 and Web of Spider-man 1-4.

The book picks up right after the events of Amazing Spider-girl #30. The daughter of Peter and Mary Parker was cloned, but they don't know whether May was the original or the clone. At any rate, the new girl moves in and takes the name April and a very different, more vampish appearance as she tries to subtly supplant May while also partnering with her and fighting in a blue Spider-girl outfit.

However, this all takes a back seat when a girl who looks like Gwen Stacy and claims to be the daughter of Peter Parker's clone Ben Reilly visits the house. April and May follow her, and May arrives to find April standing over Gwen Reilly.

In many ways, the question of who killed Gwen Reilly is a bit of a macguffin to engage our hero. The ongoing struggle between April and May over who's the original is muted but important. The contrasts in these characters is also fascinating.

May continues to be a great role model but also a very real person. Despite her feelings, she's more gracious with April than anyone can imagine. She remains a true hero who has done really spectacular things but still remains very humble about it all.

The only new characters to MC2 to appear here are Tombstone and Batwing. Beyond that we see some major escalation in the gang war with some serious dark turns in the career of Black Tarantula that is pushing it a bit for an all ages book.

This book also collects the Mr. and Mrs. Spider-man strip from Amazing Spider-man Family Issues 1-4. It was published after One More Day but set into the MC2 universe which was untouched by that abomination.It focused on stories featuring Peter and Mary Jane married and with May as a baby. While I love seeing them together, the script had poor focus with each one being a bit of a downer. It almost felt like Marvel was trying to use it to send a, "Marriage is a downer" message about the Parkers. Now, they weren't all bad, but they could have thrown in at least one or two lighter stories. As it was, every story was just a bit too heavy to make it a regular thing. Still it's worth reading.

The book rounds out with What If? Volume 2 Issue 105, the first Spider-girl story. In effect, it was a pilot for the 130 Issue of her own comic plus eight back up stories to this point. It was an incredible story and the character of May and Spider-girl certainly came a long way since then.



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Book Review: Batgirl: Silent Running

Batgirl, Vol. 1: Silent Running by Kelley Puckett

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book collects Issues 1-6 of Cassadra Cain's run as Batgirl. She begins the book verbally and mentally non-communicative. Unlike Batman who often won't talk, she can't. She also can't write or even have thought bubbles. That could make her a pretty enigmatic side character but for a main character it presents a big challenge because not only can't she talk, but most of the time her face is hidden behind a mask, so you can't see her face to see what she's thinking. Cassandra Cain may be able to interpret everything based on body language but most of us aren't her. This gets a little easier towards the end of Issue 4.

Also in this story we have Batman investigating whether her father had her murder a man when she was seven years old. It's disturbing stuff, and I'm not certain really is all that helpful.

However Cassandra is a fascinating character. I enjoyed the book and will probably pick up the next volume.



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Book Review: Essential Amazing Spider-man, Volume 5

Essential Amazing Spider-Man, Vol. 5 (Marvel Essentials) by Stan Lee

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This book collects Issues 90-113 of the Amazing Spider-man and is notable for being the last issues of Stan Lee's incredible run with most of the book by Lee (90-100, 105-110) with the other 1/4 being by Roy Thomas (101-104) and Gerry Conway (111-113)

Volume 4 had ended with the return of Doctor Octopus and Issue 90 picks that up with Peter continuing to fight Doctor Octopus but in Issue 90, Captain George Stacy gives his life saving a child endangered in the crossfire. The death of Captain Stacy was a benchmark in the Spider-man universe with great consequences. It had been hinted that Stacy knew of Peter's true identity and in Issue 90, Captain Stacy actually confirms that's the case.

Peter Parker was in love with Gwen Stacy, who blamed Spider-man for the death of her father. The incident was used by a corrupt candidate for District Attorney to further his own campaign (91-92) and media cover led X-men charter member Iceman to attack. Issue 93 had Spider-man attacked by the Prowler leaving Peter unable to get to Gwen in time. Issue 94 saw Peter ready to hang up the Webs until the Beetle makes a big mistake. Issue 95 has Peter going to London and try and speak to Gwen but Spider-man has a supervillain he has to fight.

This mini-arch around the Death of Captain Stacy was superb, leading to some very good stories where Peter Parker's emotions and conflicts are portrayed realistically and great humanity. I loved Spidey in London.

Issues 96-98 were another landmark in the series featuring the return of Green Goblin, but also Peter discovering that his best friend and roommate Harry Osborn had a drug problem. The last two issues were printed without Comic Book Code approval and was a true landmark with Lee discussing a vitally important issue in a way that was not too preachy and also very human with Peter Parker getting into action against a band of drug dealers.

At the end of that arch, Gwen Stacy returned and the two are quite a couple. Issue #99 was more forgettable with its focus on prison reform which seemed less like Spidey. Issue 100 was a great retrospective on Spidey with Peter deciding to quit being Spider-man and take a concoction that he thinks will cure him of his Spider-powers. Instead, it gives him six arms. This issue is hard to hate because the six-arms thing is so iconic though Spidey deciding to quit comes out of nowhere because he's with his girlfriend, he's got a job staff photographer, and his problems are limited.

This leads into Roy Thomas' mini-run. Issues 101 an 102 resolve the six arms issue while also introducing Morbius the Vammpire who ends up fighting the Lizard. Issues 103 and 104 has J Jonah Jameson responding to fall circulation numbers by taking Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy (in a bikini) to the Savage Lands, where they meet Ka-Zar who ends up fighting Kraven the Hunter and a creature named Zog.

Thomas is a good writer and these are fun stories. However Thomas' weakness (particulary in the second arch) is that he seems to forget, this is supposed to be the magazine about Spider-man as Spidey becomes an after thought in his own magazine.

Issues 105-107 feature the return of the Spider Slayers, a story arch that causes some reviewers to roll their eyes as it was the third appearance of Professor Spencer Smythe and his robots. I liked the arch because the robots are far more menacing than the silly things that showed up back in Amazing Spider-man #25. Plus there are additional elements that are nice to see such as Smythe using anti-crime big brother cameras that he'd been contracted by the city to install and service to commit crimes. Issues 108 and 109 are a story about Flash being haunted for something that occurred in Vietnam and it's a memorable serial that has a good reason for featuring a cameo by Doctor Strange.

Also in Issue 109, Gwen Stacy finally tells Aunt May that she's been babying Peter too much and acting like he's an infant. May reacts like a mature elderly woman would: she runs away from home.

Issue 110 is unfortunate in that it's Stan Lee's last issue and it introduces the weak character of the Gibbon, a hair guy who was such a fan of Spider-man that he wanted to be Spidey's sidekick. Spidey blows him off while searching for Aunt May leading to him to become a villain.

This is consummated in Issue 111 under the tutelage of an A-list Spidey villain who had been thought dead. Unfortunately, both the villain's return and Conway's first issue were wasted by his plot.

Issue 112 sees Spidey running away from fighting crime so he can find Aunt May, and the newspaper labels Spidey as a coward which hails back to Issues 15 and 16 of the story and feels kind of tired but ends on an upswing as Spidey ends the book where he began it: forced to confront Doctor Octopus.

Despite the last few issues, most of these stories stand up pretty well with the Death of Captain Stacy, the Return of the Green Goblin (with Anti-drug message), and Stan Lee's last spider-slayer story being strong highlights. Conway's issues are a bit of a tease as we begin to get an idea of what his era (which would reshape Spider-man) would be like. It's telling that these last three issues feature very little of Gwen showing from the beginning struggled with what to do with the character. He would decide what to do with the character in the next Essential.



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Comic Reviews: Silver Surfer, Justice League, Fantastic Four

Silver Surfer #4

The Silver Surfer is taking Dawn back to Earth, but first he has to meet with cover guest stars, the Guardians of the Galaxy who are serving as de facto custom's agents for Earth when the SIlver Surfer returns Dawn to Earth.

The story continues to be fun. This issue has some good humor that's done perfectly as the Silver Surfer and eating a fish dinner in New England create very natural easy comedy.

The ending was intriguing though if it states the new status quo of the series, it would be somewhat disconcerting. Overall, I continue to really enjoy every issue of this new series.

Rating: 4.0 out of 5.0

X-men #3:

A satisfying solution to the opening story arch with some nice action. Still not sold on this comic.

Rating: 3.0 out of 5.0

She-Hulk #1:

This is a great first issue for a series I picked up on a whim. She Hulk (Jennifer Walters, formerly of the Fantastic Four and currently of the Avengers) finds herself dismissed from her law firm job when she refuses to use her superhero connections to steer work to her law firm. On her own, she finds herself thrust into a case for a woman who's suing a Stark subsidiary over a patent issue. She-Hulk thinks she can settle it in a simple conversation with Tony but it doesn't work out this way,

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. She-hulk's a good character and I liked how the writer worked the legal stuff into the story. If I had one complaint with the issue, it was that it was a tad text-heavy, but I'm left curious that I'll probably take a gander at issue 2.

Rating: 4.25 out of 5.0

Mark Waid's Green Hornet #2:

This second issue of Green Hornet builds on the foundation Waid laid in Issue 1 as we begin to get glimpses of a plot that's being unfurled to fool Britt Reid and trap the Green Hornet. Waid really is spinning a great tale that feels like a 1930s political thriller laced into the crime fighting tale.

Rating: 4.0 out of 5.0

Batman-Robin Adventures #6:

A supermarket tabloid reports that Batman has fired Robin, a story that Batman thinks is no big problem until a crook captures one of a phalanx of wannabe Batman sidekicks believing him to be the new Robin and holds him for ransom. Now Batman and Robin have to rescue the fake Robin while dealing with a phalanx of wannabe replacement Robins.

This is a great story with a lighter touch. It's good comedy because it introduces our characters into a comedic situation and then just has them respond naturally. I love Lieutenant Bullock's line to one of the wannabes, "Lady, we don't need you amateur loonies dressing up like the professional loonies." 'Nuff said. A great issue without a single supervillain in sight.

Rating: 3.75 out of 5.0

Mr. T and the T Force #8:

A supermarket tabloid reports that Batman has fired Robin, a story that Batman thinks is no big problem until a crook captures one of a phalanx of wannabe Batman sidekicks believing him to be the new Robin and holds him for ransom. Now Batman and Robin have to rescue the fake Robin while dealing with a phalanx of wannabe replacement Robins.

This is a great story with a lighter touch. It's good comedy because it introduces our characters into a comedic situation and then just has them respond naturally. I love Lieutenant Bullock's line to one of the wannabes, "Lady, we don't need you amateur loonies dressing up like the professional loonies." 'Nuff said. A great issue without a single supervillain in sight.

Rating: 3.25 out of 5.0

Justice League Unlimited #31:

The book is actually pretty formulaic: Have Metamorpho act like a jerk who thinks he's all that and have him humbled by the one villain who could actually be a threat so he learns the value of teamwork. Never mind that Metamorpho appeared in the original Justice League series and was nothing like that...we have a moral to awkwardly repeat.

The book gets two stars because Metamorpho is awesome and the way he defeats the villains was a thing of beauty even if he was acting like a jerk to set up the author's moral.

Rating: 2.0 out of 5.0

Spectacular Spider-man Annual #7:

his book follows up on the successful Spider-man wedding story with a look at Peter and Mary Jane's honeymoon in France. The Puma featured on the cover but his role is not as sinister as the cover applies. Though he does interrupt the honeymoon to offer Parker an $80,000 a year job as a debt of honor.

Spider-man and Puma don't like each other but Peter feels the need to take the job in order to ensure that MJ can continue to live in the manner to which she's become accustomed after some of her jet-setting friends look down at him.

This a good story. It's a weak spot is that it begins with 3 or 4 pages of the Puma being scolded by his grandfather for not having repaid Spider-man. It's a ton of backstory thrown at us up front. However, the rest of the book more than makes up for it. Peter and Mary Jane are a delightful couple with many sweet, romantic, and tasteful scenes that show them enjoying the start of married life without being graphic or gratuitous. The emotional struggle of both is also very adult and well-done as we feel Peter's pressure to measure up and be worthy of Mary Jane while Mary Jane tries to be supportive. Overall, a nicely done issue that's a very fun read.

Rating: 4.0 out of 5.0

Fantastic Four #90:

This comic has the Fantastic Four (under the leadership of Reed Richards) letting the Mole Man stage an escape because they believe in the due process of law, but as Reed says, they also believe the law is incapable of dealing with supervillains because while there may be a law against bank robbery, there's no law against trying to take over the Earth. (really, Reed?) and so the FF is discouraged from trying to stop the Mole Man from escaping. The Thing leaves in disgust but unfortunately for him, a Skrull has him targeted as a potential slave. This isn't horrible, but given what the cover and title is, a lot of the story is taken up by Reed Richards being stupid.

Ratings: 1.75 out of 5.0


Fantastic Four #91:

Ben Grimm is taken captive to the Skrull homeworld as a slaver to fight in the games. Pretty interesting drawing. The aliens dress like humans from the 1930s so this calls to mind that Star Trek episode, "A Piece of the Action." Okay, but not spectacular.

Rating: 3.0 out of 5.0

Justice League Adventures #9:

How do you balance superhero and social life? When you're the fastest man alive, you find a way. The Flash (Wally West) is on a date with a beautiful woman and being paged constantly by the Justice League but for him it's just a matter of a quick run out to save the world and then back before his date notices he's gone. It's a fun concept and it's nicely handled here, plus I appreciated how the writers pulled all the emergencies together.

My one complaint is that the look of Wally was wrong with Wally being drawn as a blonde, but this may have been written before, "Star Crossed," when we saw Wally without his mask, but then again the main DC Universe version of Wally was a red head not a blond. Hair coloring aside, it was a good issue.

Rating: 4.0 out of 5.0

Batman '66 #39:

The description listed by Amazon wrong. This story is actually by the archer stealing police equipment and setting up his own phony criminal police force. The result is a very solid piece that fits nicely into the world of the TV series and Batman has a very clever solution that his henchwoman tries to stare the Archer away from. However, the archer has gotten so into character that he believes he's required to do so as a debt of honor. The henchwoman comments on a con believing his own line. Just a very good and enjoyable story.

Rating: 4.0 out of 5.0

Book Review: All New Batman Brave and the Bold Volume 2: Help Wanted

The All-New Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Volume 2: Help Wanted by Sholly Fisch

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book collects Issues 7-12 of the All New Batman Brave and the Bold Comic.

Issue 7 "Shadow's Light" features Batman, when he sees the Teen Titans, flashing back to a moment early in his career, when he dressed much like the Batman of Batman: The New Animated Series and believed being grim and gritty was what it took to make in the hero biz. The Golden Age Flash teaches him better. This is actually a fun story that takes a look at Brave and the Bold Batman's background and what made him a different hero than other version of the character. Only complaint is that we don't actually see resolution to the teaser story. Grade: A-

Issue 8 "Under the Sea" had Aquaman going on a quest to help a ghost pirate and avoid having to fill out paperwork. Aquaman is always a fun character in Brave and the Bold and deliver a nice story here. Grade: B+

Issue 9: "3:10 Thanagar": A somewhat ho-hum story with Hawkman and Batman capturing a dangerous alien and transporting it through space. Kind of a variation on the old western plot of, "My gang's gonna bust me out Sheriff." Grade: B-


Issue 10: "Help Wanted;" The story of a professional henchman who bounces from one Supervillain to another, always having his bosses lose to Batman. This is a nice story as we get several guest stars and a really nice emotional payoff at the end. Grade: A

Issue 11: "Out of Time;" Batman has to travel back in time 132 years to save Gotham City from being destroyed by a crazy scheme Ra's Al Ghoul began in 1879 that's destroying modern day Gotham. The issue tries to make a distinction between changing history (which we can't do) and changing it just enough to make a difference. The dynamic works okay and is helped by an appearance of Jonah Hex. Grade: B+

Issue 12: "The House of Mystery;" A Halloween story guest starring Zatana and featuring nearly every supernatural character in the DC universe. The first half was okay, the second half less so as the writer tried to jam every character in and our villain turned out to be a supernatural villain who has made appearances in so many DC TV shows from Young Justice to Batman: Brave and the Bold and Batman Adventures, that it was practically anti-clmatic. Still, some nice humor saves the story. Grade: C

Overall, this is another solid trade for fans of Brave and the Bold or even for a more Silver Age Batman.




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Book Review: Spider-man: The Wedding

The Amazing Spider-Man: The Wedding by David Michelinie

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This book collects a combination of comic strips and ephemera about the 1987 wedding between Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson, collecting Amazing Spider #289-291 and Amazing Spider-man Annual #19, along with Spider-man newspaper strips leading up to the wedding.

First, the comic book stuff by David Micheline is superb. He strikes a fine balance of keeping superhero stuff in the book while also treating the characters of Peter and Mary Jane very seriously. Issue 289 builds up to Peter popping the question as he takes a hard look at life and evaluates where he wants to be. Mary Jane stalls on an answer as she has to help her sister through a crisis is Pittsburgh and come to peace with some of her own issues which is dealt with Issues 290 and 291. Micheline manages to keep the character development angle strong while also giving Spider-man a tough foe to fight as Alastir Smythe and his spider-slayers provide a great Spider-man story along with the character piece for Peter and Mary Jane.

The Annual gets the supervillain battle out of the way early as Spidey faces Electro so that he can sell some pictures to the Bugle. The story then focuses solely on the wedding and it's a superb drama. Micheline wrote a sensitive story that looked at the type of fears, doubts, and hopes that this couple would experience, with Peter's anguish over the death of Gwen Stacy, and Mary Jane having to choose between the world of celebrity parties and married life. It's realistic and very fitting. Micheline was perfect. The only thing you can complain about in this whole piece is the dated hair of Alistair Smythe and that would be a stretch.

The second section of the book tells of the media coverage and also the wedding that took place at Shea Stadium before more than 50,000 fans. It's well-done and detailed background information.

The book also reprints 11 pages of Spidey newspaper strips building up to the wedding which occurred at the same time in comic book, newspaper, and at the Mets stadium. The comic strip story written by Stan Lee is much goofier and lighter than that which appeared in comics with Spidey breaking in to Mary Jane's apartment to propose. It's light, fun, and unsurprisingly has a silver age feel to it. These strips are nice to read given that so few of the Spider-man newspaper strips have been reprinted.

A final treat is an inclusion of a story from Not Brand Echs (Marvel's 1960s Comic parody magazine) looking at, "The Wedding of Spidey-man." It's a fun little strip that's probably best enjoyed if you're familiar with the 1960s stories from Spider-man.

Overall, the comic book stories really carry this book and make this book a great purchase for fans of the Wall Crawler and Mary Jane. The other features bring a smile to fans but are really icing on the cake-wedding cake that is.



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Ebook Review: Kynetic: On Target

Kynetic: On Target by John W. Otte

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Unlicensed vigilante Kynetic has a plan to get her license but it's not what anyone would call heroic. She plans to become the sidekick and girlfriend of licensed hero Failstate by ensuring that his existing girlfriend Charlotte breaks up with him. To do this, she actually befriends Charlotte and hatches a scheme with small time supervillains to confront a heavy hitting supervillain with the goal of setting Failstate up to have to break a big date while trying to secure a license for herself.

To be honest, while I liked Kynetic in Failstate: Legends, I really had trouble liking her throughout most of the story as she really came off as a designing woman willing to sink to almost anything in order to get what she wants. However, I kept with the story and was satisfied at the conclusion. The plot and action are good throughout and there's a positive message that's well-said at the end of the book.

I also liked the character of Charolotte, who is a sweet person. (Though how sweet she was tended to make me less sympathetic to Kynetic.) I'm not certain she's a good fit for the Failstate universe as she seems to play that role of the superhero's girlfriend who doesn't know about the secret. Thus, she ends up constantly frustrated and disappointed by her beau's failure to appear and follow through commitments which allows her to serve as a festering source of guilt and stress for our hero. Here's hoping that Otte comes up with something else for Charlotte to do in the next book.



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Comic Reviews: Star Trek, Justice League, Batman '66

Star Trek #37 (Gold Key):

The Enterprise encounter two mischievous brothers who are up to no good and trying to get the Enterprise's help. I could actually see this as an episode of the The original series to a certain point. I can't see it as a particularly good episode and the end is just silly.
Rating: 1.75 out of 5.0

Justice League Adventures #7:

The Flash uses his power to fax himself from the Watch Tower to help out Star Labs to find himself transformed and the only one able to see invaders from the second dimension that are attacking. This was a fun story, lessened only by the silly look of the villains. Still, a nice read if you can find it.

Rating: 3.25 out of 5.0

Superman Adventures #46:

In this story, Superman saves the world from one of Toy Man's evil devices only to be given amnesia in an explosion and crash in Smallville where he quickly joins with a couple of homeless guys. The story's point about treatment of the homeless and not judging people is brought home well enough and doesn't become too preachy. Plus it does a good job portraying Superman's character. A decent read.
Rating: 3.75 out of 5.0

Batman Beyond #24:

Max and Terry have to stop a metal creature from destroying Gotham. This story had a nice twist with the re-introduction of a classic DC character to the Batman Beyond universe and then wrapped up with a good cliffhanger. Very nicely done.

Rating: 4.0 out of 5.0

Flash Gordon (2014) #1:

This book manages to update Flash Gordon's story to the twenty-first century without going cynical and still maintaining the flavor of fun. Flash and friends find themselves in a world of trouble on Planet Mongo in a very well-done set up. The art is beautiful here and adds to that space sci fi adventure fun.

Rating: 4.0 out of 5.0

Batman Brave and the Bold #20:

This book contains two stories and is somewhat atypical in how its structured as usually a short story follows a long one.

The longer story is the better one and it's quite touching as it features Batman teaming up with Barda to find Scott (aka Mister Miracle). The celebration of the couple's marriage and what it means is actually kind of touching with some solid action and story telling.

The next story of Batman teaming up with Martian Manhunter to fight a White Martian is more just an okay story. Still, not a bad read and this is a fun and one of only two issues of Brave and the Bold not to be collected in a trade.

Rating: 4.25 out of 5.0

Peter Cannon Thunderbolt #5:

Once again, we get another okay issue of Peter Cannon Thunderbolt that's held together by the solid art. The big problem with Peter Cannon is that he's a superhero who looks down on humanity and is clear that he doesn't even like people. Our hero!

However, what makes this issue worthwhile is the great battle with the mechanical dragon and the stupidly insane yet also awesome scheme of the villains whose dastardly dark plans continue to be dark and dastardly. Not a great comic but still keeping my interest.

Rating: 2.75 out of 5.0

Batman '66 #38:

The book finishes with a bang as Batman finds out what villain really became a TV producer who made a TV show portraying Batman as grim and gritty.

While I didn't enjoy it as much as the previous issue, it had some good moments and was funny. I did worry a little bit as to whether Gabe Soria has a feel for what this series should be like. Jeff Parker always managed to play it straight just like the old TV series and let the humor come from that rather than trying to have the comic devolve into self-parody. A few of the jokes seemed a little cynical including Batman's final line.

Will Gabe Soria go more cynical and ruin the fun of this book? I'll tune in same batbook in two weeks to find out. As for this issue, it's plenty of fun despite its few minor issues.

Rating: 3.75 out of 5.0

Iron Man Volume 1 #56:

This story continued the eclectic history of Iron Man at this period. The writer varied from issue to issue and the type of enemies varied. Mostly the results were not great This book has a somewhat plot of Iron Man facing an evil monk named Rasputin who turns a statue that personifies human evil into an actual living being. The battle scene with the statue is cool, but this just doesn't feel like an Iron Man story.

Rating: 2.25 out of 5.0

Batman Meets Green Hornet #5:

Through the first four issues, this is what fans have been waiting for. When Green Hornet and Batman make a truly boneheaded deal with the villains that has the villains spare Robin and Kato and take Robin and Kato with them. This leads to Batman and Green Hornet forced to actually team up and from there, the comic is a joy to read as we get to see the two interact and Green Hornet go inside the Batcave. We're left with a nice cliffhanger that promises a smash conclusion.

Rating: 4.0 out of 5.0


Indestructible Hulk #18:

This is a hard book to evaluate It's the second of four stories in Inhumanity Arc. with Doctor Bruce Banner trying to save humans from Terrigen Mists which has Banner's first attempt to solve the problem fail-an event that could have been avoided if Tony Stark, Hank Pym, and Hank McCoy had actually tried to talk with him than Stark setting off the Hulk through pure idiocy.

Overall, while this story poses some questions particularly regarding the death of one character and why Maria Hill is complaining about being made to play the heavy. (Kinda comes with the role when you're Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.) I find myself engaged and enjoying this story.

Rating: 3.75 out of 5.0

Book Review: Rocketeer: Cargo of Doom

The Rocketeer: Cargo of Doom by Mark Waid

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Mark Waid's ability to capture the spirit of almost any comic book character is unparalleled. Here he takes his spin on the Rocketeer, a 1940s rocket powered hero created by Dave Stevens.

The story features a mysterious villain who is after the Rocketeer's rocket for his own nefarious purposes. Those purposes are revealed at the end of Issue 2 and play out over the rest of the book and it's what makes the book work so beautifully.

I also like how Waid turns the table on Clint Seford's (the Rocketeer) girlfriend Betty when a young female mechanic/pilot has designs on Cliff. It's usually Betty making Clint jealous.

The plot itself is pure pulp fiction but with a level of visual detail that's quite appealing by Chris Samnee. This isn't the 1980s Rocketeer but Mark Waid writers a version that's equally fun and compelling.



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Book Review: Darkwing Duck: Campaign Carnage

Darkwing Duck Campaign Carnage by Ian Brill

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This book collects Issues 13-16 of the Boom Studios Darkwing Duck Series as well as the only Annual for the Comic.

The Annual has two stories that stand apart from the interconnected story told in Issues 13-16.

In, "Toy With Me," toy-based supervillain Quackerjack is back and he's a far darker villain with a new and far darker version of his puppet sidekick Mr. Banana Brain. In my opinion, this story was very reminiscent of the very first Boom Studio Darkwing Duck story, "The Duck Knight Returns." It was this rare story that had a lot of kids stuff, but also some more profound mature concepts about originality, accomplishment, and choosing who we're going to be. It also could be seen as a bit of a commentary on darker comics. Darkwing Duck is at his most heroic and the end of the story is poignant. Just a great story.

The shorter Annual story, "The Untimely Terror of the Time Turtle," was written by show creator Tad Jones and was just a delightful time travel romp.

As for, "Campaign Carnage," the titular four issue story features Darkwing facing a stream of new supervillains and then deciding to run for Mayor against a City Councilwoman and before you know it, his friend and sidekick Launchpad launches his campaign with hopes of allowing Darkwing to continue to be a superhero.

The story isn't profound or anything, but it's a lot of fun. It also hints at some nefarious goings on that will be addressed and resolved i the upcoming crossover story. Overall, this book lived up to high standards of the previous all ages Darkwing Duck series and I highly recommend it.



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