2.253 (618) New Mutants vol 1 #100 ...

Back in the olden days, as in the 80s and 90s, when I was collecting comics as they were coming out, rather than TPB and softcopies, when a series was slowly dying thanks to diminishing sales, usually the hype was just that - hype. They would give us average stories and change artists to maybe newcomers who need time to hone their skills and I would be left wondering how the F are they supposed to turn it around. Of course, as we grew up and with hindsight, we realized that there is always the possibility that the publishers had some commitments and while they know the series is due to cancellation, they moved the better talents to booming properties and simply use cheaper talents to fill the commitments. Basically we were used - the readers and buyers! It doesn't sound nice but it is the truth

Hence, once in a while, it is nice to see a reversal in trend. The New Mutants did strongly in its early years and especially when Bill S was onboard. After that, it was still good with Claremont on stories and Guice on art. Unfortunately for me and I do believe a fair bit of others, Bret wasn't the right choice of artist. That and the strange storylines with that spyder like character and whatever was going on before and after the big mutant crossover of Inferno drove sales downward

Thus the arrival of Rob Liefeld was a saving grace. Of course, now that I am older and reading this book once more, I can see the other side of the artwork - the part where critics like to hammer him but like I said in my first paragraph, in Rob's case, he put in a lot of energy and spark into the New Mutants transforming them from teenagers with angst into young people who actually have huge responsibilities thrust on them and the challenges that they faced were more grim and gritty though no less worse than the threats before

If there is one thing Rob is good at, it's energy. Look at that cover. It just rocks! While the interior artwork has its moments, we can feel the rushness of the artwork where the artist has to just churn out to meet the deadlines and with a double sized issue? Well, we can understand some of the panels are less than impressive but visually it connects and in fact, I believe if they have a better colorist (or perhaps the challenge is with production quality?),  it would be better

Anyway, story wise, this is the final issue of New Mutants as the team is largely changed in terms of new faces, departure of old faces and the relaunch of X-Force. So here on the final issue SPOILER ALERT we are introduced to even more characters. First up, Lady Domino was just with us a couple of issues ago and last issue was bye bye Sunspot....

So naturally in terms of character development, a lot of chit chat is going on between Cable and Domino and then Cannonball and Boom Boom about changes and moving on and whether who should stay and who should go and what-not

But then in the midst of this we are introduced to Shatterstar who just pops in and is running and fighting everyone he meets. Naturally in terms of visual he is so awesome but Cable pops him easily hahahaha. And where there is new guy who is a hero, we found out that his villains are chasing after him to Earth from Planet Mojo

Now if that wasn't enough, the sneaky person in shadows from earlier is revealed as none other than a new claw person now that old claw person Wolfsbane is no longer with the team and she comes with her own set of problems in the form of Masque of the Morlocks!

And so there you have it ... new members with new problems but that's not all. O no. We end with an awesome epilogue where the Mutant Liberation Front's mystery leader is finally revealed as Stryfe who removes his helmet and ... gasp ... looks exactly as Cable!

What's going on? Well way back then when this came out it certainly left a lot of us hankering for X-Force 1

Ratings: 8/10

2.251 (616) The Punisher 2009 #14 ...

[From one milestone to another as this review ... if we are to go back to original numbering sequence ... means we are at 616 ... yes 616 and that's a heck of a lot of reviews but what we are excited is that that is what the Marvel U is known as the 616 in a multiverse concept ... but if you are the casual follower or reader of comics or you for the moment come from the world of movies then please ignore this fanboy ranting ...

Okay we know we just reviewed a Punisher issue but we just just just had to do another one because this run is so excellent. I mean, just look at that cover. It tells you so much from its almost retro style artwork of the early days when comics come in all genre including horror anthologies, western and love to what is now predominantly superheroics ... sigh ...

This issue has its own special shout out moments in the form of two artists involved to tell a tale. Primary artist is doing the actual present-day (so to speak) tale or storytelling while the flashback is painted style by another artist and it works well

Basically after the brou-ha-ha with the Oriental armor clad goons, the Punisher has no choice but to go back to his current assistant of info and whatever (a kid or teenage by the looks of it) and digs for info since his monster buddies are in deep shit and unable to be with him anymore and what a load of history was unnerved

So this is a flashback to the origins of the villains and we get it in two different era. We see how the scientist himself who is involved got his start and why he hates monsters so. And then we see the military arm and how they got their start and what happens in Japan and all those monsters (so cool right?)

Naturally the conclusion gives the Punisher even more fuel to fire up his anger and go gunning for some bad guys ... unfortunately we are left hanging as we are then not shown this and have to wait for the next issue ... argh!

Ratings: 8/10

2.250 (615) The Punisher 2009 #12 ...

[Firstly happy 2017 every and in case you are wondering WTH should you, dear reader, come across this review blog, basically I have slipped so badly in terms of being timely that today is 8th Jan 2017 and I am here in Jakarta, Indonesia for the past three days ... so I am hoping to somehow catch up and be current on my reviews ...

[Secondly, happy 250th ... so good to know that we made it in our so-called year 2 or series 2 of reviews to hit the big 250 ....

Alright. For those who somehow enjoyed the Punisher but never feel quite there with Frank's series and relaunches, well this one is definitely different. It ran for about three years before another relaunch but what was cool here is Rick Remender, one of the then, rather new writers at Marvel who showed us his love of the company and this franchise ... he started off with Frank in the midst of a Marvel group crossover and him having issues with folks in the Avenger, Norman Osborn and a gallery of rogues

And just in case you are wondering how he can top his own work comes this issue and the start of his year 2 on the title where he has Frank killed (really) earlier and resurrected as a Frankenstein monster!

SPOILER ALERT

So in issue 12 while not a double sized celebration, it has so much going on as we see Frank starting to learn about what has happened to him ... and as he is now part machine what he needs to do to survive his days. If that isn't bad enough, amongst the Monsters community, there is even secrets and hidden agendas as the uglies do not band together under a sort of utopia brotherhood. So we get glimpses here and there of things that are brewing

And because this is a Punisher comic, we also see the start of villainy as armor clad guys with guns and samurai style swords come a hunting into the sewers where the Punisher currently stays with his new found family

So you know it's going to be a bloodbath in the issues ahead!

I love this so much I got doubles of some issues and will get the TPB!

Ratings: 9/10

2.249 (614) Captain America vol 1 #110

Sorry we couldn't find a good copy of the cover to include in this review but hey we decided to go really back to the good old Marvel vaults and dug this up so to speak for your edification! And what an issue it is

First up, the art. I am not a fan of Steranko but I am honestly stoked after seeing this issue. The individual page and panel composition are so good and the action scenes are just plain action packed. Of course this being a comic from that era, there are styles that may not be my taste just like fans of pure manga may not like American style comic art but other than that, the sheer energy just bounces off the page!

Now as for the story, we open up with a Cap who has come to terms with his new life in the "modern" life. Unfortunately thanks to the wonder that is the Marvel Universe SPOILER ALERT the Hulk decided to make an entrance for purely no specific purpose except to literally run across Cap's path and because Hulk is on one of his mood swings to the negative side, naturally Cap got involved with the military. Rick Jones who at this time is a pal of Cap rather than hanging and tailing the Hulk happens to be around and tries to calm down the Hulk to end the fight to little avail

However, what is the highlight of this issue is SPOILER ALERT when a rested Rick finally awakens and decides to shock Cap by donning on Bucky's costume. The reaction of Cap is expected but what is unexpected is Rick's opinions on Cap's feelings and how he managed to raise a very convincing argument to the point that Cap had to give in. Yes this is done in a couple of pages and panels because this is not the age of decompression storytelling. Hehehe!

And good thing too because to prove that Rick is ready what happens next but an Avengers alarm and only Cap and Rick are around to respond and so the new dynamic duo (sorry) leapt to the action to encounter ... Hydra!

Yes all that in one single issue! Plain awesomeness

Ratings: 7/10

2.247 (612) Captain Marvel vol 1 #1 ...

With all the success to-date from Marvel in the cinemas, obviously there is talk about a Captain Marvel movie and it will probably be, highly likely, Ms Carol Danvers. So we decided to go waaaaay back into our archives and dig this issue up.

This is from Marvel comics' first Captain Marvel who is actually an alien warrior/ soldier named Mar-vel. He is of a protective nature instead of just warring and decided to throw his strength in the defence of our planet when one fine day he found himself on earth

As for this issue, though it is number 1, it is not his first appearance. In fact, when you first read this, you will be totally lost because we see Cap already on earth and fighting the robotic Sentry whose mission is to kill Cap. And alongside Cap, we see earth soldiers and one security officer by the name of Carol Danvers. Yup, the same lady who at this point in Marvel history is a normal human being minus any sort of powers

After a hard fought battle, it is sad for us to know that inspite of his powers, Cap is not powerful enough (and this is a recurring theme in his subsequent adventures) and he was only saved SPOILER ALERT by other Kree faction who are on his side and aware of his situation. We get to see glimpses and a few panels from a number of, at that time, new members to the cosmic side of Marvel's 616 universe - like Ronan, Kree Supreme Intelligence, and others

But at the end of it all, while there is an ending, it leaves you feeling neither here nor there. The story starts from somewhere else and the ending has no clear cut victory for us to cheer for Cap. In fact, it doesn't even have a cliffhanger to make you come back for more

Ratings: 5/10

2.242 (607) Avengers vol 3 #5 ...

It has been a while since our last v 3 review and so we finally reached issue 5 and honestly while I did enjoy some of the past decades Avengers especially the first round of New Avengers and Mighty Avengers, unfortunately, with each relaunch and renumbering it got harder and harder to follow unless one is a constant reader. Sigh!

In Issue 5, the Avengers have just been reassembled with a whole new team as of end of 4 and this time consists of some all time fave and two so-called active reserves ... and as our cover clearly indicates, the Avengers have another run-in with the Squadron Supreme

For those who are wondering, basically years ago, Marvel did a maxi-series on this group of heroes in an alternate universe. There the mighty took it upon themselves to reshape the world thinking that with their power they can bring some sort of utopia to their world. Now as we all now even here in the real world that no such thing can ever be and if might is all it takes, we all also know that it's only a matter of time before things crumble

So the Squadron is their world's kinda Avengers too and while on some mission or other ended up stuck on our world looking for their way home

This issue opens up nicely with the new team having personal time like some going shopping and others exercising and training to hone their skills while even more others are in the lab trying to help out. And as the title is Avengers, all you need to know and I am sure all you are expecting is that a call will go out and before you know it, it's time for AVENGERS ASSEMBLE

As is common now in comics, that call is attended to which leads to a common misunderstanding with our two teams coming to blows. Normally the blows would be sorted out within a few panels but not this issue. With Perez at art, everyone wants to see big groups of heroes pounding the tar out of each other and both writer and artist did not disappoint

In other words, the tale ain't done here and we have to come back for Part 2

Hah!

Ratings: 8/10

2.229 (594) Uncanny X-Men vol 1 #202 ...

Okay. Enough with the New Mutants eh? Now we switch on to the main team - Uncanny X-Men and what a ride this series has been for the past 100 issues. Chris Claremont really gets the characters and here he shows that he can start a new tale in the midst of impending crossover time (Secret Wars 2) and still managed to make it standalone so well

As the cover indicates (and what a lovely lovely cover it is), the Sentinels are back. And you all know what it means! Mutant hunting time ... yup for those not in the know SPOILER ALERT ... Sentinels are basically created to hunt down and exterminate mutants and here, that's what they do

So our team, still licking their wounds after their past few issues of hectic over the top stress and tension, are ill equipped to face the robotic death traps. However, in this instance, it is not a case of lacking raw power but rather focus

Still with Rachel, baby Phoenix on their side, they cannot lose, eh?

What you need to know is buy this comic and just read it and enjoy it. The art and colours work so well here with the tale

Ratings: 7/10

2.221 (586) Thing vol 1 #20 ...

As the cover indicates, something is even more wrong than normal after last issue's encounter with all the classic movie monsters like mummies and vampires and Frankenstein monsters.

And this issue is what's up with his hottie of a gal pal?

You see, somewhere along their journey, Ben and lady warrior wannabe got parted. So naturally being of the heroic persuasion, Ben immediately goes off in hot pursuit tracking every lead and trying hard to get her back. Only she seemed not to want to go back.

No, that's not quite right.

Actually she seemed totally hostile to his very presence.

So what happened? Did someone mindwashed her? Did he travel back in time to before they ever met? Or is this a clone of her? Or something even more sinister?

Hey this is comics. So the possibilities can stretch on quite far

Ratings: 5/10

2.219 (584) Alpha Flight vol 1 #114 ...

In the first series of Alpha Flight, ever since creator Byrne moved on, it has struggled to find a captive audience and slowly but surely loses ground. Like one of the letter writers in this comic, I too struggled to 100% drop this title as the joy from Byrne's run kept me coming back to sample this well of creativity hoping to find something worth my buck

But this issue is not it

SPOILER ALERT

The storyline is average at best as they tried to push so many subplots in to the end that the book reads very disjointed with no major focal point here. Artwork is by Pat Broderick. Definitely not my cup of tea as his linework gets too chunky and clumsy frequently. Inker Bruce doesn't help unless it is
Bruce's fault that the art looks like that

So here we see the end of an adventure as the members of Alpha Flight take their down time and instead of chilling out or bonding, they decided to rip chunks out of each other because ... this comic came out during the grim n gritty era ... so we have a leader who just still dresses up in full uniform while flying around or walking around ... and the scientist Sasquatch still experimenting on his on again off again girlfriend, something he has been doing 100 issues ago ...

As if that is not enough, we see then fan favorite Puck trying to be useful but ultimately not able to contribute and Northstar being his usual angry self

Now as this is a superhero comic, there is a villain of sorts but the villain is the son of the original jackal - a Spidey villain (say what) and Heather sends Beta Flight, the junior team in training to settle him without even bothering to have one single senior to evaluate or support or guide ... way to go Heather you bitch! As can be expected, everything goes to tatters the moment they encounter the villain as no one has any idea of how to defeat the bad guy or is even prepared to meet him. They are just stumbling along, literally to get from a to b

And the comic just keeps jumping from scene to scene every couple of pages or less!

As for Wild Child, well, he is supposed to break out and go mad as per the cover. Don't hold your breath as it didn't happen in the comic itself

Ratings: 3/10

2.105 (470) Hulk vol 2 #50 ... Marvel ... #hulk

Firstly for those who remembered Deodato during the heydays of comics boom in the early 90s, he disappeared for a while before returning to Marvel comics and upon his return, his entire style of artwork has changed substantially to the point that you cannot tell it is the same man. I kid you not. This version is restrained and realistic, none of the cheesecake posturing and growling with spittle flying every which way!

And when he was teamed with Bruce Jones, apparently a long time writer of comics (sorry I didn't know him before this run), it is just plain incredible (no pun intended). You get a feel of intrigue wondering as each issue progresses what is really going on and what is the end game. We see Bruce being led and perhaps in cahoots with someone and naturally there is also the journeyman stuff from the 70s tv show feel here too which is just right. This particular run is also adapted into the 2nd Hulk movie starring Ed Norton which I loved and thought it great except for the special effects on the villain which was quite eeeeuuuuurgh!

Okay

The issue itself - we see once more members of the mysterious organization coming out to the dessert and trying to awaken and coerce a semi-dormant Abomination back to life and activity and initially, he merely laughed at them until they came back with something near and dear to his heart ... and then all hell finally broke loose ... but hey even before the Abomination comes free, the agents themselves proof to be equally nasty the way they infiltrated the base

And as for our star Bruce, well, he is walking through desserts unknowingly being led to a place near where the Abomination is ... and he stopped by a café for a break SPOILER ALERT ... never knowing that the café has food, clothing and even a hot chick for sex we kid you not ... and o yes a new version of Hulk Smash ... something colder, more eerie ... and the way characters are so intensely focus on each other is creepy

You never know from the words, the actions and the facial emotions of what else is hidden behind the surface

Ratings: 7/10 (would have been higher if we had a hulked out sequence)

2.101 (466) Rom #2 ... Marvel ... #rom

From all those high of Secret Wars, let's go to a low on another space-faring title except that here the hero is from beyond coming to Earth whereas in Secret Wars, it is heroes from Earth going beyond. Gee how's that for an on-the-spot opening line? Not bad, eh? Heh!

Well, aside from the cover, this issue is average, at best which is a surprise since this is a new series and one would expect a lot to happen in order to capture readers' attention. As it has been a while since our review of this series, a quick recap is as follows:

Rom is a spaceknight - basically a human being from outer space who has sacrificed his humanity by merging into a metal alloy so as to combat a nasty alien race called the Dire Wraiths. Where the Wraiths can shape change and uses magic, Rom and his allies uses technology and after a long war, they managed to kick Wraith butt. However, as the Wraith flees into space, Rom and his team decided not to allow them the chance to ever grow in strength and so chase after them. Rom was the one chosen to come to our fair planet Earth while his brother and sister knights went elsewhere

In issue 2, we see Rom still failing to connect with the human race and making little attempt to do so. Hence as he is so focused on seeking out the Wraith menace and eradicating them, he made a huge mistake here as other humans think he is the alien menace coming to kill humans since the Wraiths are disguised as humans

Unbeknownst to Rom, they not only have civilian guises but have amassed political and law enforcement might as well. And so the Wraiths set others against Rom. Naturally as they used largely human weaponry such as police firearms, nothing does Rom much harm. Still what is apparent in this issue is more the issue of misunderstanding - a point that is repeated three or four times throughout

Well while there is a fair bit of action, when it is Rom against regular people, it is not that entertaining, is it? I mean, it is fine but I can see why in the issues to come this comic needed guest stars to prop it up

Ratings: 5/10

2.100 (465) Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #6 ... Marvel ... #secretwars, #avengers

Wooo-weeeee we hit our 100th review with this post in our second year. So finally we are doing things on a consistent basis. For me, personally, it is an achievement because somehow or other, I have always started and stopped and re-started things. Even this blog is a good example. There is an earlier comic blog that I started but not kept up regularly. So even though I may wish for more followers, what is more important is the sense of achievement and the discipline to finally do something properly

Anyway, for this our 100th issue, we jumped back to the first Secret Wars as it hits issue 6 the middle mark and so far, there is no let up in the formula. Great artwork, character developments all serve to propel  an action driven storyline and this is no exception

Basically, this issue serves as a breather so there is no big action sequences but hey in this series no big action sequences is still full of action. Example: in the opening pages we see the Wasp piloting a ship out of control and crashing in a magnificent explosion only to encounter a mentally deranged Lizard whose strength seems to be increasing and she has to use her charms to calm him down while inside Doom base as he continues to study and understand Galactus, who should intrude but Klaw, the master of sound whose mind is also altered thanks to his body being blown to its essential building blocks in other series? See? Lots of happening

Meanwhile, as Colossus recovers from his earlier beating SPOILER ALERT his dreams started merging between Ezaji the alien healer and Kitty Pryde while the Torch being who he is merely swoops down literally and picks up the woman of his current dreams right in front of an embarrassed Peter

As if that isn't all, we see that Prof X decides to take the initiative to attack the villains and all these came at a price of fighting with Storm who is naturally upset as the Prof has cast her official field leadership role aside at his own convenience. And ... what's up with the intelligent Hulk? He is continuing to show signs of aggression

O and to end this review or rather a review that gives you highlights of what is going on within, if you think the action is not intense, how about Rogue getting whupped? Or Wolvie slashing someone open leaving them near death? Hehehe! Awesome!

Ratings: 8/10

2.98 (463) Secret Wars II #2 ... Marvel ... #ironfist

Issue 2's cover is a huge improvement over the entire artwork of 1 - just check it out on this page! Loved, loved, loved it! Unfortunately, while art may have improved, the storyline is still continuity heavy!

At the end of 1 and some of the crossovers, the Beyonder learns that physique is important to convey the right message. His first which is an amalgam of the uniforms of heroes and villains is a confusion and scares people. So he chose Steve Rogers as it seemed that Captain A commands respect. Obviously, it goes deeper than body shape but the Beyonder is like a child at this stage and the opening pages convey this perfectly!

From one scene to the next, he tries to understand sensations and some are quite funny. Example: when he learns that the emptiness he feels is hunger and he tries eating ... except he cannot distinguish between what is to be eaten and what is not!

Now we come to the crossover bit. While the Beyonder waltzes through the city, we see people in a riot and this is thanks to what is going on in FF. However, here it serves more as a backdrop i.e. unnecessary except to get us to buy FF. Sigh! Seriously, at first their issue serves as a backdrop and even when he actually encounters them, it feels unnecessary and forced upon

NO SPOILER ALERT

On the cover we see Spidey. So Spidey's contribution is that since the FF is busy, the Beyonder decides to go to Peter for advice and while some are helpful such as going to the WC (we kid you not), others not quite so

And then there's Power Man and Iron Fist - back when their own series was coming to an end and here is because the Beyonder was asked to go to them for protection (not that he needed it) and advice. And he learnt that there must be payment for services rendered ... and you should see his logic about translating from payment in cash to something ... else ... hehehe!

Ratings: 5/10 (saved by that cover)

2.96 (461) Marvel Super Heroes Secret War #5 ... Marvel ... #avengers

Inspite of what the cover promises (and it does deliver this within the covers), this is an issue that talks about relationship! And it starts a potential fight for affections between the Human Torch and new alien healer along with one other hero - yes we kid you not!

Now, there is so much going on here, that even in our last review, we had to hold back so much info in other not to spill too much of the excitement for you and part of that is when our heroes realizes that a revitalized Galactus is busy assembling his world ship and the machine for consuming the planet. It figures that Galactus now depleted needs a recharge

And of course if our heroes plan to interfere in anyway, naturally Galactus sends one of his many defenders to the planet surface to keep our heroes occupied. It is thus when the villains under the now more brilliant leadership of Doom attacks. And that's how you get that image on the cover

The Human Torch who was hurt in an earlier battle is being treated by an alien healer name Ezaji. Typical of the Torch, he then starts imagining and trying to have a relationship with the alien regardless of species limitations hehehe

Next up is the X-Men ... after the nonsense with Magneto being settled and Mags agreed to fight for the good guys, they went back to the heroes main camp only to see what is on that cover and you just know that there is going to be a battle royale

Another relationship that ends here is that between Mags and the Wasp

While we get a glimpse of Colossus missing Kitty, his missing partner now still on Earth just as they were starting on a relationship that seemed to have legs

See? A relationship issue amidst the action - awesome!

Ratings: 8/10

2.91 (456) Villains for Hire #2 ... Marvel ...

Seriously, I have no idea why they rolled this one out. I mean, Misty Knight and the Purple Man. Both are B list at best. Sure Misty has had some decent cameos, guest star, supporting roles - call it what you want but whenever she headlined anything be it with Colleen Wing or others, she has always never achieve moderate success. So what's with this new version, eh?

And here we see the continuing adventures of Ms Knight as her crew of villains go up against yet another job that belonged to the Purple Man and beating him at his game. So is she merely being the good guy using villains or has she decided to vie for one of the top spots of a Marvel baddie?

At this juncture, we know not except that someone who seemed to be her are pulling the nasty shots. And we even see that she is willing to put one in the back, literally, just to achieve whatever she wants. So it is an impressive issue ... not strong enough for her own mini or ongoing but enough to make us intereste in 3 next

Ratings: 5/10

2.83 (448) West Coast Avengers vol 1 #13 ... Marvel ...

With this cover, the final fourth  element of natural forces and the true mastermind behind the last issue's assault is revealed as none other than Graviton. While Graviton has always proven himself to be a tough customer, I guess at this point, the writers @ Marvel are trying to establish a few villains who will be recurring nemesis for the West Coasters (Wackos as is their name in the letters pages)

So we have Master Pandemonium who actually debuted in this series first and Graviton who was the main driving force in their first limited series. So naturally, after a year in the regular ongoing series, we see the return of the Gravity Lord and here ... he got smart. Not just to always engage heroes in nonsensical fight but he came prepared

He drafted the 3 crazies from the earlier issue to assault the Wackoes and distract/ weaken them so that by the time he is ready for his master stroke, they are all caught so unawares. You need to read this to see what we mean. It is a stroke of genius and something that is actually replicated albeit in a slightly different manner in the second Avengers movie

Awesome action!

Ratings: 7/10

2.82 (447) West Coast Avengers vol 1 #12 ... Marvel ...

Well, at least we managed to do 4 reviews of comics that is not from Marvel, eh? So now we move back to more familiar territory - West Coast Avengers. It has been a while since we did a review from this - when this first came out, we remembered following it avidly for slightly more than 2 years before it became a little too retro from artwork to storyline and slowly but surely by year 3 we dropped it

But hey this is issue 12th and in a time of double-sized specials, this is a single-sized issue and the start of a storyline that has been building from earlier issues

As the cover shows, from out of nowhere, for no apparent reasons, our wonderful agents of Avengers found that they are attacked ... by super beings that are not just powerful but almost inhuman ... and represents three of the four natural forces in our world

We have Zzzax ... a being composed of electricity ... and a Hulk villain. So you know this means that he is going to be one tough cookie to swallow ... next along the line is a female whose uniform is in tatters called Halflife and as her name implies ... her touch is deadly ... and to round this up we have Quantum ... a guy who is clearly an alien and doesn't speak English ... not only is he super strong but he can replicate himself into so many figures that there is just no way for our Avengers to beat him

So what does the Avengers do? Well, to tell you here would be revealing, right? Buy the book for goodness' sakes!

Ratings: 7/10

2.63 (428) Thor vol 1 #351 ... Marvel ...

This issue is big on  the fight scenes and there are a lot of them. We see glimpses of the Avengers and the human armies out on the streets of New York fighting hordes of demonic creatures. And joined with them are Thor and the Warriors Three ...

Further afield in another geographic location we see Sif and Beta Ray Bill and other Asgardians facing another incursion of demons ...

And then a thought occurs on how to shut down the baddies at once because if the portals remain open, the replenishment is at a rate beyond the ability of our heroes to cope ...

But as per our previous review ... this is all but a distraction ... for the golden price is in Asgard and the last few to stand in the way of the price is Odin and Heimdall ... and o what an oaf Thor proves himself to be ... he may be strong, powerful, great fighter, big hearted but an oaf nonetheless when he finally realizes WTF is going on

Ratings: 8/10

2.62 (427) Thor vol 1 #350 ... Marvel ...

I am ashamed of myself as a reviewer. I just did a check on my archives and realized that out of the many reviews I have posted online, I failed to include 350 and 351 when in truth, they are amongst the most awesome issues in Thor chronicles ever!

So ... here it is ... the big 350 ... what is shocking at the time of its initial publication was that while it is a landmark issue and a huge chapter in the lives of the Asgardian as Ragnarok came a calling, it was done as any other normal sized issues. No specials within, no extra remarks, no extra pages ... Walter Simonson gave his best from stories to artwork and that's it and if truth be said, there were at times too many word balloons that it made some of the panels looked bare ... especially the ones where the camera lense angle is zooming out while the words remain the same size and thus eclipse the artwork

However, that is but a minor gripe

Overall, all the DOOM DOOM DOOM sound effects and ominous hints that has been building for the past year and many panels come to a head here as Thor and his allies both in Asgard and on Earth braced themselves for war when the sons of Muspelheim attack earth. These are fire demons and they come through huge dimensional gates appearing across the globe

So it's sheer size and immense madness!

So we have Surtur of the Flame, Malekith of the Dark Elves who has successfully brought the casket of ancient winters to Earth and giving Earth a perpetual winter storm and finally ... everything is but a ruse ... the war is not on Earth merely the battle ... and by the time Thor realizes this ... could it be too late?

Ratings: 8/10

2.36 (401) New Mutants vol 1 #23 to 25 ... Marvel ...

We kick off our next 100th reviews (fingers crossed and all that) by taking a plunge back to the 80s with the first spin-off mutant titles. Yes, there was a time when each title had its own identity and was told for a looooooooooong spell without relaunches and a spin off only comes around when it makes story telling sense

The New Mutants as the title indicates are young people who come into their abilities and brought in by Prof X not to be heroes like X-Men but to learn both normal lessons and how to control their abilities so that they can rejoin the greater world outside ... but as it is still people in costumes there will be the occasional foray into superheroics

What is entertaining is that from issue 17 onwards most of the stories are told in 3-issue arcs and with awesome cover art by Bill S. The interiors are also done by him but almost a different style especially with the heavier inking making everything look moody and muddled

In this 3 issue arc after issue 22's breather told in one, we see the youngest of the team, Rahne Sinclair (the werewolf girl) and Roberto DaCosta (Sunspot) ... being embroiled in something totally unexpected SPOILER ALERT ... drugs! Experimental drugs to be more precise with the ability to bring out the worse in people, super or regular

And naturally the Marvel heroes who are generally involved in anything drugs is Cloak and Dagger - she is a mistress of light who dances and shoots a light beam that can freeze her opponents amongst other things while he has a teleporting cloak that can grow and envelope many things and people and also chill his opponents

At this juncture, some may be confused about the origins of C and D and to be honest, so are we. At first, they are regular kids who got involved in drugs that transformed them. Over the years and different writers, in order to boost their popularity, there was at one time stated that they were mutants as well and the drugs merely knocked the power out of them or some such. So one has to wonder eh? But at this point in their storylines, they were NOT mutants

And so you have it!

Of course once the rest of the team realizes what is going on, they rush in to help and all sorts of mayhem ensues. As for supporting cast, we have a "preacher" who assists. All in all, a very "mature" sort of storyline involving the junior members of the X-team. And over the course of their series, basically that's the type of stories you get ... the villains are less colourful


than the X-Men and more grounded

Ratings: 8/10