A weekly review of the best comics and graphic novels out there, Also giving you the latest info on New and upcoming releases. Please visit my store http://stores.ebay.com.au/Gahlaktus-Comics for everything you see here and more!
Written by Brian Michael Bendis, Pencilled by John Romita jr
I've been a long time fan of the Avengers franchise ever since reading New Avengers: Breakout back in the day. That's about the time when Bendis had firmly claimed the Avengers as his own. He'd shaken the whole team to its core with Disassembled and remade it in a similar fashion to the Justice League by having all major heroes. We finally saw Wolverine and Spider man, two of Marvels heavy hitters and franchises in themselves.
Well after the events of Siege, where we saw Asgard destroyed, the Sentry going a little bit Russell Crowe and Norman Osborn well and truly being given the smack down. Marvel decided it was time for another reboot (sigh)
I'll admit right off the bat I was a little unsure of John Romita Jr being the artist for the main Avengers title. His art can be really hit and miss. Sometimes it can look absolutely amazing other times... well there's probably four year olds that can do better. So skeptical as i was, I decided to have a look (I couldn't not pick it up anyway, I'm too loyal to the Avengers). I have to say I liked it a lot. What we have here is a return to the Avengers of old. Bendis has finally dropped his love affair with the ridiculous villain the Hood and we've got the Avengers doing what they do best and that's saving the world!
We see the return of Kang and Ultron in this story. We've got a great team composed of Captain America (Bucky), Thor, Iron Man, Hawkeye (finally rid of the ridiculous Ronin persona), Spider-man (Also on New Avengers), Wolverine (Also on New Avengers & X-men) Spider-woman and Protector (formerly Marvel Boy). Its a good dynamic and they all seem to fit together well. On top of this all Steve Rogers aka Captain America is now the new Nick Fury. Everything is shiny and new and it doesn't feel so dark anymore. Which to me is good. It was about time they bought the Avengers back into the light.
My only complaint is the foreshadowing of Wonderman being the next hero to go crazy. I don't think its necessary to always have a hero going crazy and the rest of the team to handle it. The Scarlet Witch was good, the Sentry was very good although I was a little sad with the way they mistreated that character, but Wonderman...c'mon! who gives a #@#$ about Wonderman, and a good villain he does not make.
Basically its a time travel story with Kang coming back in time to petition the Avengers for their aid in a force so powerful not even he....well Kang has always been talked up a lot, he's not really that scary but anyway I digress. Kang reveals to the Avengers that their kids have in fact completely screwed up the time stream, and the universe will implode unless the damage is undone...the usual sort of thing for the Avengers.
Personally I hate time travel, its so confusing and almost never makes sense, but Bendis somehow pulls a very credible and quite easy time travel story together. His dialogue as always is witty, and its a well put together tales. I'd give this 4 and a half stars out of 5.
Tuesday 16 August 2011
Marvel releases this teaser today.... This must be the follow up to Schism, which I've yet to read. I read it in TPB format though so you get the story in one big hit, so it may be a while before I know what is going on here. I'm guessing though as Schism as the title implies is a splitting of something. The X-men must be going separate ways. So it looks like we might be heading back to the New X-men ala Grant Morrison and X-treme X-men ala Chris Claremont (God that series was awful) it was like Marvel decided to create a team of characters no one really like except of course rogue and gambit and then have them written by Chris Claremont, who really has lost his way about 10 years ago. I however digress, I find it a bit strange to believe Sebastian Shaw leading a team of X-men? What do you guys think? Although its not too much of a stretch, Emma Frost Seemed an unlikely candidate and look at her now.
Hers a new teaser image and write up for the Ultimate line spider-man. Looks like Marvel are trying to be a bit edgy on this one.
Look Out World! Here Comes Miles Morales - The New ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN!
Marvel is pleased to present your first look at an all new variant of Ultimate Comics Spider-Man by rising star artist Sara Pichelli - featuring the all-new character that everyone’s talking about, Miles Morales!
*Retailers should look to the Marvel Mailer for special ordering instructions for this all-new variant!
ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN #1 (JUL110605)
ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN #1 MILES VARIANT (JUN118248)
Well Marvel released this teaser image this morning regarding a new Magneto mini in the works. I'm pretty psyched. You have to wonder what Magneto's "attitude" shall we say is going to be in this mini. Magneto has and always will be associated with being one of the greatest villains going. What most people forget is that he's worked with the X-men on a number of occasions. In fact who can remember when he was the headmaster of the school? that's right, he was filling in for old chuck for a little while. He does seem to have a habit of reverting to type. Marvel seem to be trying to make character changes stick though. Emma Frost has been a good girl for a very long time thus far. Everyone is itching for her to jump back in the bad saddle and do what she does best. Maybe perhaps the title is referring to the fact that Magneto is more of an anti-hero than a classic hero. Can't wait to find out come November!
Your First Look At Mark Bagley’s ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN #1 Variant!
Marvel is pleased to present your first look at the Ultimate Comics X-Men #1 Bagley Variant from Marvel Architect Mark Bagley! Rising stars Nick Spencer & Paco Medina put Iceman, Kitty Pride and the Human Torch on the road to discover the true history of the x-gene! Who are the X-Men and how will they handle the fallout of this universe shattering discovery? Find out in Ultimate Comics X-Men #1 this September, as Ultimate Comics Universe Reborn continues!
Welcome everyone to the very first post of Gahlaktus Comics. I've set this blog up just to review and preview the best comics and graphic novels out there. In a way to help people find whats hot and whats not when looking for a decent comic book to read. So without further ado Enjoy!
X-MEN: SECOND COMING
By Christopher Yost(Author),Craig Kyle(Author),Mike Carey(Author),Matt Fraction(Author),Zeb Wells(Author),David Finch(Illustrator),Mike Choi(Illustrator),Terry Dodson(Illustrator),Ibraim Roberson(Illustrator),Greg Land(Illustrator)
I have to say right off the bat that this was one of the finest X-men books I have read for a long time. You have to have read a few books before this but even as a stand alone this book is great. The X-men have never had it easy what with that whole hated and feared thing going on, and if you're up to date with the Marvel universe the scarlet witch made it worse for them with her no more mutants decree. Which cut them down to 198 mutants which slowly but steadily has been decreasing even further. The tension in the mutant camp is at an all time high as Cyclops X-force team is revealed and the other X-men are less than impressed. This book especially shapes Cyclops as a leader even more. He started getting a little hardcore back in Messiah Complex. This book shapes him into a no nonsense mother f#@ker. its interesting to see him be less like Xavier and more like Magneto.
Well things heat up fairly quickly from the get go with Hope the new mutant messiah returning to our time from the distant future with her protector/father Cable. This sets off alarm bells with the number one menace to mutants Bastion. There doesn't seem to be a moment to catch your breath as one disaster after another befell our mutant protagonists including the death of two major characters which you never see coming (which for a comic book is saying a lot). Both deaths our felt by the reader and both feel like they mean something, and you can certainly see that these deaths our going to be lasting. The book culminates in a climatic battle which has you on the edge of your seat. The end of the book eludes to the future for the X-men and its looking pretty bright.
The book is a hefty 392 pages, so its a good solid read. The one consistent thing I enjoy about the X-men collected editions is that they're usually pretty hefty, none of this 6 part rubbish, this is a nice 15 part epic, encompassing all the X-titles.The artwork and writing is spot on with this trade, the artwork especially glows and has great depth. I was particularly impressed by the cover art by Ibraim Roberson. Absolutely beautiful. Its truly amazing the strides comic book art has taken. I started reading comic books back in 1991, you compare the artwork and color of say X-men #1 to X-men to say X-force #26 (a personal favorite chapter in this story arc). I believe the events in this book will play heavily in the upcoming X-men: Schism. Which is the next big event for Marvels Mutants.
All in all a great read, maybe not the best starting point for new readers but definitley worth adding to your collection!
