Man, what a stellar (and pricey) week for comics. This week saw the return of everyone's favorite prequel-era Sith Lord, Darth Maul, in a fun "in between seasons" story that follows up on his appearance in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. DC Comics also continued its rejuvenation of Aquaman, while Marvel delivered the latest twist in its plans to redefine the Lizard's status quo.
Please note, there is a review coming soon for American Vampire #29.
DC COMICS
All-Star Western #11
Written by Justin Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti | Art by Moritat
"While the rest of the Bat books have wrapped up their dalliances with the Night of the Owls crossover, All-Star Western continues to explore Jonah Hex's chaotic encounter with the 19th Century incarnation of the Court. The series is practically reveling in its ties to the Batman mythos at this point. Besides returning the setting to Gotham, writers Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray have brought in the Religion of Crime as a rival cult. They also seem determined to ensure that as many major Gotham figures as possible have historical analogues in this series. At some point it would be nice to be reminded that this book is about Jonah Hex too." -Jesse
Final Score:7.0
Aquaman #11
Written by Geoff Johns | Art by Ivan Reis
"Apparently it's not enough for Geoff Johns to swoop in and make writing a compelling Aquaman yarn look like child's play. He also has to prove that it's perfectly possible to toss an entire team full of essentially new characters at readers and make these readers fall in love with them after a handful of issues. This is a book that makes good on all the promise the New 52 offered." -Jesse
Final Score: 9.0
Batman: The Dark Knight #11
Written by Gregg Hurwitz | Art by David Finch
"Gregg Hurwitz's first issue of Batman: The Dark Knight was a mammoth leap forward in storytelling and quality. This feels like a Batman book now, instead of a turd smeared across paper and then stapled into the shape of a comic. Still, as we said in the review of issue #10, this series is not doing much to make itself a 'must buy' each month. Being an okay Batman book in a sea of good Batman books just isn't enough." -Benjamin
Final Score: 6.5
Before Watchmen: Comedian #2
Written by Brian Azzarello | Art by J.G. Jones
"Before Watchmen: Comedian deserves some credit for being the only one of the Before Watchmen books so far to not attempt a standard origin story. The series skips over Eddie Blake's formative years and instead follows his misadventures in the '60s as a government agent. Unfortunately, despite the less formulaic approach, Comedian still falters quite a bit in its execution." -Jesse
Final Score: 5.5
The Flash #11
Written by Francis Manapul & Brian Buccellato | Art by Marcus To
"You can always count on The Flash to have an amazing title page and a new villain, and the creators do not disappoint here. While fiery baddie Heat Wave is nothing to write home about, his debut adds yet another member to Flash’s rapidly expanding rogues. Even better, Barry Allen changes the status quo on how he fights crime by moving into the seediest part of town and getting a job at the worst bar imaginable. It’s almost like hewants to get into a fight. Good news for us, he does." -Joshua
Final Score: 7.5
Green Lantern #11
Written by Geoff Johns | Art by Doug Mahnke
"Last issue, Black Hand decided to go cliff diving rather than become an Indigo Lantern once more. It was gruesome stuff, but now he’s back at it with a Black Lantern ring and a plan to bring back his dead family and eat Chinese food with them, among other more nefarious things. It feels good to have a clearly defined villain with an evil agenda in a Green Lantern book again. I enjoyed learning the mysteries of the Indigo Tribe, but now I’m ready to see how Hal Jordan and Sinestro are possibly going to get along long enough to overcome this deadly threat." -Joshua
Final Score: 8.5
I, Vampire #11
Written by Josh Fialkov | Art by Andrea Sorrentino
"Since the start of the New 52, four books have continually impressed me issue after issue without fail: Batman, Wonder Woman, Animal Man, and I, Vampire. What they all have in common is their consistently high quality artwork, refreshing stories within their genre, and a cast full of memorable characters. With this installment, Andrea Sorrentino creates an epic battle scene between vampires and zombies while Joshua Hale Fialkov continues to develop the twisted romance between vampires Andrew and Mary. In short, it still kicks ass." -Joshua
Final Score: 9.0
Justice League Dark #11
Written by Jeff Lemire | Art by Mikel Janin
"Let’s start this off right: in my opinion, Justice League Dark is – right alongside I, Vampire – one of the most consistently beautiful books at DC. To my memory, neither series has had a lapse in artist and yet has remained pristine issue after issue. Mikel Janin delivers yet again in JLD #11, perhaps even topping himself with stunning layouts and pristine lines that formulate one of the trippiest – yet cleanest – looking issues yet. There is seriously so much detail packed into his characters that it’s astonishing to see this book arrive on time month in and month out. The editorial team at DC should take a bow for assigning Janin to this book, and issue #11 is precisely the reason." -Joey
Final Score: 9.0
National Comics: Eternity #1
Written by Jeff Lemire | Art by Cully Hamner & Derec Donovan
"In a move that I’m still quite excited about, DC Comics has debuted its new done-and-one series called National Comics, aiming to reintroduce some of the DCU’s more obscure characters month in and month out in a series of one-shots. The debut features a revamped Kid Eternity, written by Jeff Lemire with are by Cully Hamner and Derec Donovan. As a re-introduction (or perhaps just an introduction for some) to the character, Eternity #1 suffices just fine. In fact, the only storytelling detriment I can pinpoint is the fact that the story doesn’t exactly wrap-up in a way that will leave you satisfied. Instead, it ends on a rather heart wrenching cliffhanger that will just leave you waiting for the next issue. That’s not a knock against the book itself, it’s just that, at least at this point, that next issue doesn’t exist." -Joey
Final Score: 8.0
Spaceman #8
Written by Brian Azzarello | Art by Eduardo Risso
"Spaceman is finally getting around to making a point. There are moments in this issue when we finally start to see the story come through. Some of these scenes could have been pretty poignant and meaningful -- if they had happened three or four issues ago. This series has just become to long and to unwieldy. It's saying something, but does anybody even care anymore? I doubt it." -Benjamin
Final Score: 5.5
Superman #11
Written by Dan Jurgens | Art by Dan Jurgens
"This Superman title has been less than stellar since its debut, but despite some cringe-worthy elements, this issue isn’t all that bad. The teaser text on the cover is an outright lie, the villain is a photocopy of a Predator, and Superman’s abnormally long neck is back, but a well-paced story manages to keep things interesting. It’s not a super story, but it’s getting there." -Joshua
Final Score: 5.5
Teen Titans #11
Written by Scott Lobdell | Art by Brett Booth
"Teen Titans seemed to be taking steps in the right direction for the past few issues. It felt more interesting, like it was finally starting to tell these kids' story. That comes to a halt in this issue. The Teen Titans just punch some random dude that they invited over their apartment and then they punch each other. Thrilling." -Benjamin
Final Score: 4.5
Source : feeds.ign.com
No comments:
Post a Comment