247. X-Men vol 1 #1 to 3 ... Marvel ...

Final day of the year ... and to put forward something good ... we went through our list of reviews and was surprised to find that these 3 issues were not covered ... so definitely we have to, right?

For those who read comics and actually doesn't know, there was a time before DC and Wildstorm and Image when Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld and Todd Mc were like superstar artists at Marvel and each of them were given the chance to launch a new title each

For Jim Lee, he left Uncanny to Whilce Portacio ... and launched a new  X-Men title ... this one ... with like 5 covers or something and sold millions of copies ... although we believe a lot of the buyers are speculators because now you can go online and buy them for like really cheap. Hehehe!

But you know what, it doesn't do justice to the book

Great art, great colours, great storyline ... has human interactions besides just superhero action ...

As the cover shows, basically after the long silence, Magneto is back and typical of Magneto whenever he comes back to remind everyone of his agenda and power, he goes overboard and causes massive problems on planet Earth and then retreat back to his home in the sky

The X-Men definitely intends to go after him but the challenge is how and can they go up there undetected ... when we talk about X-Men here, we are talking about a huge team of original and new and other newer mutants ... and we talk about Magneto, this time he comes with the Acolytes ... a new bunch of mutants led by a chap who supposedly spouts the lines made famous by Magneto as if Mags is a cult leader or some such ...

Betrayals are a plenty ... from the good guys or from the bad guys? And we found out more about some of the Acolytes ... and potential ties with  Xavier

A rollicking good read ... and the ending ... can bring a tear to one's eyes! Sniff Sniff!

Ratings: 10/10

246. Daredevil vol 1 #250 n 251 ... Marvel ...

In an age of double sized issues, this came as a shocker. I bought this from Mile High Comics back issue bins years after it came out and I was expecting something special since it is DD's 250 but ... it read like any other normal issue of DD ... with new villain coming out from the subplots and finally coming to an encounter with DD ... and of course the full fight is next issue but as the guy is just a big sized guy who is almost but not quite superhuman strong or with great fighting skills ... it felt kind of ... m'eh if you know what I mean

Artwork ... it's fine ... it carries the story well ... when there was a need to be quiet, dark n moody, it was ... when it opens up to something emotional, the lines convey the emotions well ... about the only disappointment is the thin paper quality ... not thick like the 70s or later 90s ... so it makes the colouring n inking looks too ... murky?

What's more interesting like most DD stories is actually the human element as we see Matt's life spiralling downhill and out of control ... and we get a snapshot of family life for his forthcoming villain too

Hmm ... that's about all I can share ... without telling exactly what's going on

Ratings: 5/10

245. Hercules: Thracian Wars ... Others ...

I have been actively collecting comics (Off and on over the years depending on budget and location where I am in) since I was 12 ... that means I have been a fan for a whopping three decades ... however, every once in a while, a movie comes out and I may watch and enjoy without realizing it is also based/ sourced from a comic. An earlier good example is The Road to Perdition and now this!

I have seen the trailers for like several months ... making me want to watch the movie with Dwayne Johnson and the movie was funny and enjoyable ... and I have no idea it was from a comic until this ...

I actually have this comic in softcopy from a friend for the better part of two years (he gifted me with hundreds of comics) ... and one fine night deciding to try something different I clicked on this first issue and it was so good I read all the issues over one sitting (thanks to some chips and Pepsi)

And that's when I realized that the movie is based on this

Are they differences? Yes

Is it material? Umm no not unless you are a purist

There are enough differences that you can actually enjoy the movie and this comic separately

So what's this about? Well we aren't sure if the Hercules here and his team are indeed demi gods but the way they talked about it seemed that at least they themselves believe in it ... but if so why journey forth looking for gold coin to survive eh?

Anyway they come to a place supposedly to meet a client only to be treated ill until all hell breaks loose and in anger, Hercules and his team easily demolished (read that as killed every last one of them) everyone ... only to discover that the true client had set everything up to test if they are as good as they say they were

And if they passed?

Why the client wants Hercules and team to train his soldiers into a formidable army on the pretext that others seek to dismantle his royal seat and steal away the royal crown. So as the days slipped by, we see romance blossom and sex abound including references to Greeks and young boys

But is all once again as it seemed

Not so ... and before this tale is through, you can bet your last axe that Hercules is going to totally lose it ... and one of the team may not make it through to the final pages

Good stuff

Ratings: 7/10

244. Uncanny X-Men vol 1 #258 ... Marvel ...

For me, Jim Lee came into his own on the Uncanny X-Men ... this particular run and what a run it is ... of course thanks to the poor quality of the newsprint ... sometimes the artwork comes out dark ... but you know what? During this time, Lee gave us his quintessential look and paired with Scott Williams? Awesome! Just check out that cover

This is the end of an arc but heralding more to come but during this time, the X-Men reads as a slice of mutant life story with almost no downtime. It is not about them going to confront only villains but having villains come after them and their lives are thorn apart

At this point, there isn't a proper team of X-Men. The entire team is split and then ... thanks to something that happened before #250, the X-Men decided to walk through a powerful mystical portal called the Siege Perilous ... that analyzed them and churned them out with new personalities and memories in various parts of the world ... the one that didn't go through? Wolvie and Jubilee

As the cover indicates, Wolverine and Jubilee are now making their way around to recover their team mates while trying to find out who is after them. On the sidelines in the form of side plots, we have Legion and something super nasty brewing on Muir Isle

On the main story? We have Psylocke being reborn in Asia in the body of an Asian woman ... who is an assassin named Kwannon. It will be a few more years before what happened is told in full in another X-Men series (not yet launched when this issue came out) ... and the Hand, that loser ninja cult sect, is using Psylocke to convert Wolverine to their cause ... naturally as they are X-Men ... they managed to fight the conditioning and give it back to the villains

As this is also the time of Marvel's weaker crossovers i.e. Acts of Vengeance we see classic Iron Man baddie Mandarin here giving the mutants a hard time

So how do we rate this?

Ratings: 9/10 (yeah baby yeah!)

243. Thor vol 1 #433 ... Marvel ...

Well, now, we decided to do one more review because from our last review, as we shared, this particular tenure in Thor comics, tend to be a bit convoluted ... so by giving you a back-to-back review, we hope it is a bit more balanced

Now what makes this special?

Because there is a new Thunder God in town ... literally ... you see, after losing the Dr, our Thor buddy was tied up with architect Eric ... well, thanks to what went down in the previous issue i.e. Thor supposedly killing Loki after realizing that because of his inability to properly deal with Loki, Loki will always come back with scheme after scheme that result in damage, destruction and death. So Thor decided to mete out his own Viking justice! Yeaaaaah!

Right

But that sits not so well with his papa Odin who has decreed that no Asgardian must kill another ... so Thor is banished and to his human alter ego's surprise, Eric found himself to have the power of Thor

To give Eric a proper start, well, Ulik the Rock Troll who has, after his last defeat at the hands of Thor hid himself in the sewers decided that his rest is enough, he is strong now and to revenge/ avenge upon poor Loki's fate. I don't like the Loki at this juncture (although the movies' version makes him a lovable rogue, eh?)

And guess what? In this one issue, we see Eric Thor fight Ulik twice. First round, he got trashed and then decided that as he has the power but not the experience etc, he must fight as best he sees fit and what a fight it was. He literally ... ummm ... let's just say it was a good fight

O yes Code Blue ... remember our trashing of them in our last review? Well, they are here again ... and performed equally as well i.e. poorly hahaha!

Ratings: 6/10

242. The Mighty Thor vol 1 #432 ... Marvel ...

You know the 2 Thor movies (as at the time of doing this review there are officially 2 movies but who knows what the future may bring, eh?) ... well, honestly, Thor has had his ups and downs comic wise and for me ... while Ron Frenz the artist does a very powerful Thor and the stories are interesting if convoluted ... somehow, I sort of left this series around the end of Walt Simonson's run and never collected regularly until vol 2 ... so this issue was purchased from Mile High Comics bargains ... before those 2 movies make the prices of back issues soar!

So how was it? Well one of the reasons I bought this is because even though it is 432 but it is highlighted as the 350th issue of Thor because earlier on this book (for those who want to know but do not know yet) is Journey Into Mystery

So we have double sized issue but at regular price because of the back issue systems. Hehehe!

Anyway with regards to convoluted, well, if you were to find a bio somewhere online and read on Thor, you will definitely agree that there was way too much attempt to twist and turn the storylines ... perhaps this is good if someone were to follow this as it came out or you bought a batch of the comics ... otherwise if you were to sample one issue here and there ... I am not sure if you want to come back for more ...

Here we see a Loki who has defeated the Wrecker (a man with Asgardian powers) and absorbed his brutish strength. So throughout this issue, we see a titanic fight between Thor and Loki with the finality a bit of a shock ... not because of what happens but rather because it is what happens in a Thor Marvel comicbook! If this is Image, heck, no biggie! If this is Ultimate Universe, no biggie but because this is still the early 90s in a mainstream book ... it was a shock! I will not spoil it for you

Suffice to say, aside from the above, there are sideplots galore ... there is Mephisto planning to capture the spirit or soul of Thor ... there is Thor's human alter ego, Eric the architect (no longer the Dr) and his family drama ... and (for me) the most over-rated and useless development, Code Blue a task force of special police team who is supposed to come and handle all these super human stuff ... except they seemed to delight in talking tough and not really doing much ... hahaha!

Oh yes, the end has a special few pages from the first appearance of Thor ... a reprint!

Ratings: 6/10

241. Cage #2 ... Marvel ...

O-kay ... for our special Christmas review (done on 31st Jan 2015 actually) ... we decided to do a special ... something that can be hugely popular and yet faded away so fast ... and in Marvel comics, there are quite a number of such titles. A few that comes to mind include:

1. Immortal Iron Fist - hot hot hot when it was launched with David Aja but less than 24 issues before it fizzled out
2. Moon Knight - similarly sizzling when it was launched with David Finch (hey 2 Davids!) but again ran out of steam after only a dozen issues

Now as to Cage .. well this was an oddball choice as it came out in 1992 during the comic boom. At that time, Cage was the old Power Man with the Afro hair, yellow shirt, chain belt type and then when that series finally ended ... this popped up ... and everyone was surprised because now Luke has dropped his 70s look ... and become someone from the then current R&B crop

Naturally the series launched super-hot with back issues going up the rates but after less than 6 months, you knew it would not survive much longer regardless of guest stars or villains galore!

As for issue 2, we quite like it and have read it a few times over the years. Firstly, the artwork on the cover and interior is nothing to shout at but adequate. So is the colouring. However, what is good is Cage now no longer Heroes for Hire but still needing to make ends meet and trying to live it down. So he does all sorts including body guard

What is another cool point is that while the main character is black or African American, in one of the rare times, the writer manages to balance the tone of the book. Here we have him protecting someone who enjoys going overboard about the solidarity of his black brothers and what-not and naturally stirring the ire of white supremacists which in this case is also anti-mutants i.e. those weird robot like chaps with strange smiley faces which turns out to have real people within

As a more relevant guest star, we have Dakota North, a regular white woman who supposedly dresses fashionably and yet is a PI. Go figure!

A bit of a fight, a bit of tension and some good dialogue ensue with the final pages a lead up to issue 3's next action packed adventure

Overall, nothing to run out and find but if you do, have a flip through

Ratings: 6/10

240. Hulk vol 1 Ann 13 ... Marvel

Wow! I just re-read this and it is awesome. Even though it is like from more than 20 years ago - the artwork, the story, the pacing - perfect and told in one! Basically, all you need to know is that the Hulk has reverted to savagery and all the heroes in the 80s inc Thor fought him to a standstill. Dr Strange came on the picture and sent him to the nexus of dimensions i.e. a realm where each path leads to a portal to another world

Dr Strange hopes that the Hulk will try until he finds a world that keeps him contented or happy. And to ensure he is never too unhappy? Or face danger where his strength is useless? Dr Strange has a failsafe spell that sends Hulk back to the crossroads

Now with all this ability and logical thinking, one has to wonder why in the past few years, when the Hulk, still intelligent and potentially causing problems did the heroes of Earth decided to just zap the Hulk into outer space onto one specific planet only?!?!! Hence resulting in that long though enjoyable drama and culminated into WWHulk?!?!?! Why didn't Strange do this again?

Well for whatever reasons, we suggest you hunt down a copy. The artwork is brilliant! Kupperberg did an astounding job and the colouring, even without computer aide, is just excellent. The story is simple. The Hulk, at the crossroads has no food and to survive he tries one portal after another. And on one of these portals, he found contentment and to our own surprise, even friendship but such matters, like real life may not always be long term. Still the joy and the impending disaster to come was told with such gentleness that it touches the reader from across the pages

Just plain good comics!

R
atings: 8/10

239. Excalibur vol 2 #1 ... Marvel ... Chris Claremont n Aaron Lopresti ...

I still recall buying this issue when it came out from one of the comics specialty shops in Malaysia and was shocked at the cover. Shocked not because of what it portrays but the artwork. At that time, the mutants were still popular before Avengers kicked all sorts of @$$ on everyone else. So when it was a #1 ... what the heck? Back then everyone believed in collectibles ... before the current trend of relaunching every year or three

So let's do this in a proper manner, shall we?

Writer Claremont is possibly the best writer on Uncanny X-Men to-date and when they put him on this series, I expected great things. Artist Aaron is not my favorite but his lines aren't bad. They are realistic and just lack that over-the-top style I prefer

So what failed here? Either inking or colouring. Even the interiors were a disappointment which was why I didn't continue with the rest of the series and only occasionally picked it up when I found an issue in the bargain bins and even then ...

As to the content, it is a decent opening issue. We see the world as it is after the madness that went down in Genosha. For those not in the know, Genosha was a nation where the humans used technology to exploit its mutant population to the point that it can even activate latent powers for the good of the state. After a revolution, it became somewhat free ... somewhere along the line, after Magneto pulled one of his threats/ terrorist acts, he was actually given Genosha as his base and sort of become a sovereign head of state! Yeah, yeah, we are shocked too

This issue starts when Genosha was totally destroyed (more or less) by one of the X-Men's foes. And so Charles Xavier feels guilty and decided to leave USA for Genosha on his own in his wheelchair to see if there are survivors especially young mutants who needed help

And upon his arrival encounters a host of other surprises and shocks

As you can see, suspend your disbelief and it's ... interesting ... however, the other thing that gets me is this. Apparently if you wear tights and have your own transport, you can go any country in the world without giving a damn about immigration. I mean, here is Charles travelling to another country hoping to find kids and bring them back on his own. Is that permitted anywhere in the world? And this isn't the first time. How often do we see heroes going from country to country and welcomed with open arms?

Sigh!

Ratings: 5/10

238. Ultimate X-Men vol 1 #5 ... Marvel ... Kubert n Millar ...

By the time you finished this issue, the first thing you will realize is that the team on this book is good at pacing. What we mean is the opening sequence and the final cliffhanger splash page. Every single issue - that's the most "impactful" sequence and it's done consistently. It almost gives us a feeling of old comics from 70s where at the end of each issue we are led with a cliffhanger to tease more to come next so that we await for the release

Okay ... let's start with the cover ... once again, it is a decent cover of Colossus looking powerful ... even though from within, it's a team book that didn't spotlight Peter Rasputin at all but hey ... it's a good cover ... so we are not complaining ...

Well, from the last issue, we saw Cyclops joining, right?

But this issue, right from the start we a jaw dropping first page - Parliament being bombed! And then in the fleeing that ensued, Cyclops and the Brotherhood - WTF right?

Naturally we know that as this is a Marvel comic, the next thing we will definitely see is a response and that response is predictable. Sentinels coming out from the ground and literally tracking and going all the way back to mutant land hide out of Magneto ...

Now before we continue discussing that, the book stops for a bit to show the X-Men trying to understand WTF is going on and trying to find Cyclops to no avail. So is he spying for Xavier or really joining the bad guys?

But hey in case you are not buying this book, writer Millar is going for all that he can squeeze out ... by giving you a scene of Jean literally doing the nasty with Wolverine ... yup last issue's kiss apparently ended in bed in a luxurious place (where's the money coming from?) ... and even after not finding Cyclops ... she didn't return to duty but continue hunkering back into bed with Wolverine ... this is not only a slut but horrendous behaviour ... shock value or not we found this scene just plain disgusting and pointless!

Anyway the big twist here is that the Sentinels and their overlord had no idea that the big villain of the picture is Magneto! Naturally if they did they wouldn't send metal robots right?

So what happens? Unfortunately by the time the robots arrived, they still managed to tear a huge hole of devastation in mutant land before Magneto seized them and said it's time for retribution on America. And here, you have to wonder again WTF. Is Magneto that dumb? He threw the first salvo by bombing parliament. What was he expecting? Obviously retaliation. Does that mean secretly he wanted a good war but wanted a slightly cleaner conscience i.e retaliation from him next not him being just the aggressor? Well if so, F U Mags you failed!

And finally naturally Cyclops woke up and said he needs to stop Mags from starting WWIII. Really? Cyclops? Really? Are you that thick?

Ratings: 4/10 ... don't get me wrong ... loved the action here but the illogical turn of the tale is a wee bit too much for me and hence the lower ratings

237. Ultimate X-Men vol 1 #4 ... Marvel ... Kubert ...

Well from the mess that was last issue, writer Millar and artist Kubert continued unabated and in fact, this is a much better issue. Now our past reviews are a mixture between trying to entice you to read the comic and yet balancing between a discussion for those who have read. Well, from this review onwards, BE WARNED. We will be doing a full review as if you have read, okay? SO IN SHORT EVERYTHING IS REVEALED. SPOILER ALERT ALL THE WAY THROUGH

Right. The cover is finally awesome. That is surely an updated Jean Grey and in the Ultimate-verse, although Jean is young but she is streetwise and not the half-fragile flower, half-stronger-inner-woman from the original Marvel 616-verse

Inside, we are first shown the continuing firefight from last issue. The Brotherhood is no longer the only villain or on the run. We are shown others with more conventional firepower i.e. bullets and guns ... and then comes the boss of the baddies, enter: Magneto

Huge blow-out and we see the X-Men finally going home recuperating. Yup! Hank is not dead and the reveal in the previous issue was merely to get us interested in this issue. Boo! This is Ultimate. We should see Beast gone!

Next, for whatever reasons i.e. intentional or otherwise, there seemed to be unnecessary tension created here. As we know, Cyclops has a crush on Jean and vice versa even though Scott Summers is more beefy and hairy unlike the 616 Cyke whose nickname is Slim. But here, we are shown that nasty Wolverine, with a few clever looks and comments actually manages to snog Jean. Does that mean Jean is easy? Or a slut? Hahahahahahahha!

Anyway, Scott saw it and that's Wolvie's intent ... cue some other pages of (to us) irrelevant panels ... before we are swept away to the lair of Magneto where he is assembling not an army but a country of his own ... and guess who comes to join him on that last page?

Cyclops!

Yup ... but after last issue, we are left wondering if we can believe this or merely another set-up by the writer (boo!). See? This is what happens when the boy cries wolf too many times in too short a time!

O yes the colouring is awesome though. Love it on that final page and the garden scene

Ratings: 6/10

236. Ultimate X-Men vol 1 #3 ... Marvel ... Kubert ...

That cover? What a joke, right? I don't blame the artist but the editor or whoever approves covers. I mean come on! I know when this is launched it was a huge hit but that means all the more pressure to build up the audience and loyalty instead of just being experimental, right? Is it any wonder that the Ultimate X-Men never achieved the popularity it could have?

However, the story more than saves the readers and the interior art though a wee bit cartoony has some awesome angles especially the action scenes ... just plain awesome!

Okay the story. Basically (SPOILER ALERT) we see Wolverine (RECAP) from earlier issues coming as an agent of the opposition to assassinate Charles but instead being one of the team. So is he sincere or not? Most of the team do not trust him but Charles said yes so they are treading carefully around him and the opening scenes show us this. What a surprise and a twist! Will not tell you what it is

Next we switched scenes to the primary baddie i.e. Brotherhood of Evil who is hiding out and the X-Men decided to go take them down. Naturally both have a tough fight on the hands as both teams have equally huge headcounts at this point and equally diverse power sets and that makes it interesting. The little exchange between Pietro and Logan also hints at more to come

And the ending? Another twist as one of the X-chums appear to bite the dust! Now this should have been revealed on the



cover eh?

Ratings: 6/10

235. Ultimate Spider-Man vol 1 #11 ... Marvel ... Bendis, Bagley ...

So after that awesome last issue, it leaves us wanting more, right? Well, good and bad. The good is that this issue indeed continues once more right where the last issue ended. The bad is that unfortunately this issue while entertaining feels padded i.e. stretching the character development parts longer until it reaches issue 12, the one-year anniversary issue coming up next. Sigh!

I mean, the opening chapter of this book tries to give us some tension and create some new characters and suspicions but somehow ... it feels quite forced upon ... I mean we have several page of Peter and a new councillor ... then there is Peter and Liz ... and then we see so many pages of flashbacks ... I mean the series is not even a year-old why the need for so much flashbacks?

Finally there is the idle chatter of the bad guys ... great if these are key characters or fan faves ... but again this series is only on issue 11 ... who cares? Who cares about the kingpin's non powered cronies? Who cares about the kingpin's loser thugs like Ox/ Montana/ Dan?

The pace picks up towards the final pages with Spidey finally taking action ... kicking ass and ending with him confronting the baddies ... see? Decompressed story telling ... sigh ...

Ratings: 5/10

234. Ultimate Spider Man vol 1 #10 ... Marvel ... Bagley, Bendis

Right now as we are typing this review, in the Marvel U, there is a replacement in the Ultimate Comics for Peter. Because you see, in the Ultimate-verse, nothing is static and even key characters can die. While this is good, this means that unless the Western comics are willing to follow anime/ manga style with endings in mind and new series, they will run into trouble i.e. if a comic is really good, the sales are good and which company is willing to risk introducing a new replacement and alienating existing readers?

Then again, if the new stuff is good, it can garner new readers not just comics completists, right?

So far, from our perspective, the sad thing is Western Comics i.e. Marvel and DC seem to be losing this battle. If not for the movies, they would have lost an even bigger chunk. So thank you o movie going public for saving us from the end of comic-dom

Now why are we ranting about this?

Because after Peter is killed, they replaced him with a new kid, a "coloured" kid and I guess this is in a way deliberate to diversify the Ultimate-verse! Sigh! Honestly I tried and flicked through the first TPB but gave up ... and as sales will show, it is not doing that well anyway ... so ...

Spider-Man is not just about a guy with Spider powers, it is the story of a person and his growth from teen-hood into a young man, subsequently marrying his childhood sweetheart! That for me is Spider-Man and that for me is why the first volume of Ultimate Spider-Man works because I get to follow this journey whereas in the regular Marvel U, I came upon it too late when he is already a working bloke and when buying back issues, well, somehow the dated feel makes me feel like I am reading for the sake of being a completist!

Right - so for those of you reading this, you must be bored, eh? Hehehe!

If you are still with me, let's move on to the comics. Basically this continues right on the heels of 9 with Peter confronting the Kingpin and in these flimsy 22-pages so much happens, that you just wouldn't believe that the arc is 6-issues. So who said Bendis, writer is all about padding? In this issue, he shows us how assume he can be. Here's a run-down (SPOILER ALERT) for those keeping score:

1. Peter's big fight with the Kingpin
2. Electro enters the fray and Peter gets sent packing
3. Peter and Aunt May's big emotional scene about Uncle Ben
4. Peter having to cancel with Mary Jane
5. Mary Jane and Peter having a tough time
6. Kingpin rounding up his forces and showing that he can get his hands dirty
7. Peter realizing that whatever he touched upon, he needs to do more to close the chapter

See? Lots happen

Ratings: 8/10

233. Ultimate Spider-Man vol 1 #9 ... Marvel ... Bagley ...

Bagley does the covers and the interiors but the colouring technique is somehow different for the covers but both are no less delightful. In fact, I like his style of doing Spider where sometimes he actually looks like an under-nourished teen who has a sudden spurt of muscle growth ...

And this issue's white cover is awesome! Love it!

As for this issue, it continues right off the last ... where Peter finds out more about the Kingpin ... and this issue opens right into it with the Kingpin's new enforcers called ... the Enforcers. For those who knew of them from the original Spider series, well, they are not much changed. Still the same 3 clowns ... one guy is large and strong, another uses whips and another guns ... and that's pretty much it

Naturally Peter has no trouble fighting them ... if he had been more focused and with more experienced he could probably finish them off within a page ... two pages at the most

But as this is a book that is equal parts Peter and equal parts Spider, we have a segment where Peter has a tough time in school yet ... is shown growing there with potential backbench supporter Kong (new character in Ultimate) ... while getting cozy with Mary Jane

And finally he took the trouble to learn more about the Kingpin ... so that he could invade the Pin in his own lair! And that last page? Wow!

Ratings: 6/10

232. Ultimate Spider Man vol 1 #8 ... Marvel ... Bagley ...

I am not sure why since the day the Spider is introduced, he has been a hit from comics to cartoons to movies ... although honestly I only enjoyed Spidey in all mediums except the comics ... don't get me wrong ... I tried but found it hard to stomach

I did the Marvel Tales reprints here and there ... found Spider average ... did an Essential or two and that didn't work for me either ... I even subscribed to Marvel Online and read a few and again, didn't do beans for me

But when the Ultimate line was launched? BANG I was addicted. I collected quite a fair bit of the floppies and subsequently read it until the end in either TPB or softcopy from friends

So this issue ... continues after the first arc ... where Spidey is still not well known out there in the regular world ... he is more bogeyman at this stage ... and anyone who encounters him is of two minds ... some believe he is good while others he is a villain ... as per our opening arc here! What a laugh ... or at least a genuine smile inducement moment!

Next up, as Spidey goes on his life, he needs to make a living ... and thus decided to take photos of himself then tries to hawk it to the newspapers ... as fans of the original Spider series will know ... this means time for the Daily Bugle and its characters - JJJ, Robbie, Brant and others ... the good thing about the Ultimate is reporter Ben Urich (who is mainstay in DD not Spider in the original Marvel U) ... is a reporter here who sometimes inspire and sometimes assist Peter Parker

And here ... Spidey found out about someone called the Kingpin and how he may have ties to the chap who killed his uncle Ben ... so you know what comes next, right? Right?

Ratings: 8/10

231. Wetworks vol 1 #2 ... Image ... Whilce Portacio ...

After an over-the-top first issue with awesome artwork and awesome storyline that left us all wanting more (it truly is Whilce's best work ever before or after!), here comes issue 2 and like WildCATS and others, it has a special extra cover to boot!

We continue the tale of Dane and his team of covert black ops operatives as they continue their journey of self-discovery from that of mercenary like warriors to people clad in golden symbiote armour. Here they start to learn more about the capabilities of their suits while becoming more akin to super heroes ... and simultaneously they learnt that humanity has been sharing this planet with many races that live more on the dark side of our world than walk in the bright of the sun

In addition, we also see that the symbiotes can affect some of the soldiers differently and not just everyone has a shiny body armour ... we see the chap breaking out in blue bright white light ... and another swelling up!

In the meantime, the team gets reassigned to a new mission and that is to supposedly defend a band ... unknowing to them the bandleader is a vampire himself ...

And in the vampire kingdom, while the current ruler is trying to make a balance between old treaties and the current challenges it faces ... like any good kingdom style tale, there are greedy members of the family who covet the crown itself and thus scheming is underfoot

Another title from Image that has less to do with spandex and more to do with a good tale

Ratings: 9/10

230. Warlock and the Infinity Watch vol 1 #2 ... Marvel ...

Originally we intended to review only issue 1 before moving on to the next series but then it was such a good read that we had to dig up issue 2 for more of the same ... and we are glad we did. Good artwork, inking, colouring coupled with a decent story made this very readable a comic

Here, as the cover indicates, once more, it is not about supervillains but rather the continuing story of how Warlock ... once a decision is made ... goes about finding 5 other unique individuals ... to be caretakers of the Infinity Gems ...

He recruits Gamorra, Pip, Drax and Moondragon ... plus one more that will be his ace in the hole ... someone that is not revealed here in this series right at the start ... and that leaves fans guessing many of whom made the right guess ... if you know the character of Warlock, chances are you will too

So who is the Watch?

Gamorra - deadliest female assassin in the Galaxy and last year was in Guardians of the Galaxy

Pip - a space faring troll like being who is more into thieving, smoking, drinking than doing any good

Drax - once a super powered person now still super strong but mentally challenged and similar to Gamorra was seen as a Guardian in Guardians of the Galaxy

Moondragon - complicated earth woman who was raised in Titan but who is partially corrupted by an unearthly being called Dragon of the Moon ... and she has been both good and bad characters before ... and is even believed at this point to be the killer of Drax, who is apparently her earth dad! Yeah like we said complicated

Ratings: 7/10

229. Warlock & The Infinity Watch vol 1 #1 ... Marvel ...

At the end of the Infinity Gauntlet series, we see Warlock having control of the Gem Stones and the Gauntlet. So naturally all of the Universe's powers are concerned about what Warlock would do with it and whether he will turn out to be a worse tyrant than Thanos

That's what this first issue is all about actually ... so if you read the limited series and enjoyed it, then this is a must-buy! Because this is the real epilogue and ending to that series

We see Warlock ... now appearing before an informal/ formal council of the powers that be within the Marvel 616 Universe ... where each of them debate and fight over the topic of whether there should be a permit given to Warlock to hold such power and then there is Warlock, now more or less supreme wondering if he didn't agree with them, is there anything they can do against him?

Lots of posturing, lots of talking heads (and some quite literally just a head without body) ...

And the ending is truly inspired! What a turnabout and the choices made is dead brilliant ... and that ties in nicely to issue 2 and the reason for the title i.e. Infinity Watch and not just Warlock!

Basically Warlock decided to split the gems and give each to a guardian with one final gem unaccounted for ... and those he gave, joined him to form a super-powerful group

Ratings: 7/10

228. Witchblade vol 1 #1 ... Image ... Michael Turner (RIP) ...

Michael Turner is an awesome artist! The reasons are as follows:

(a) His interiors are as detailed as is covers
(b) His cover works are gorgeous

And towards the end of his short life (you are missed), when he kept on fighting the illness, he dedicated more and more of his time towards cover work, which means that fans get to see his interpretation of different characters and he didn't limit to his own works and creations anymore but a whole spectrum from other comicbook publishers

I remember his gorgeous work on Sub-Mariner!

Anyway, in the hey days of Image, Michael Turner started with Silvestri's Top Cow and launched this series before forming his own Aspen Studios (if I am not mistaken) ... and this series is interesting in the sense that it focuses more on the story than on spandex ...

Basically in the Top Cow universe, there are certain artifacts that have survived through the ages being wielded by selected individuals ... and some are for good while others are not ... when the 'blade was launched, naturally all these artifacts concepts were not fully fledged yet ... but in time to come, there's the spear from Magdalena ... and the Darkness .... and several more


So here in Witchblade, it's basically an amulet of sorts that when comes into contact with the right person, will affix to that person and can transform into any sort of weapon required to meet and combat any threat ... technically a powerful personal super weapon, then

About the only thing it gives a nod to comics is that since there's a lot of "boys" reading, the choice of bearer is a woman and somehow or other, it transforms them into scantily clad women. Other than that, this is a straightforward non-spandex crowd type of comics ... and it works

So in this the origin issue, aside from that painted cover, it is strictly an origin issue as we see Detective Sara Pezzini's already complicated life about to get even more complicated when she stumbles across the Blade ... all the while, the rich and powerful are scheming and searching to possess the Blade as well

Ratings: 8/10

227. WildCATS vol 1 #6 & 7 ... Image ... Jim Lee

After the first few issues were launched, as it was a huge success (as if there were any doubts, right?), Lee decided to continue his CATS as a regular ongoing and to buck the trend at that time, he decided to continue with issue 5 onwards rather than renumber like most of his mates. On top of that, except for the foil on 2, there are no other enhanced covers ... now don't get me wrong ... many people bitched about those enhancements ... me? I thought they were wonderful. After all, novels have them so why not comics when comics is even more of a visual medium, right?

So why issues 6 and 7 for this review then?

Because this is the official cross-over between Marc Silvestri's Cyberforce and Jim Lee's WildCATS ... and what a crossover it is ... with both artists going all out to impress the other chap's fans ... and colourists literally going overboard with strong bright colours and awesome contrasts ...

In fact, if you were to read this, you might say that it is overboard with the details ... just check out the covers and see how much tiny details are there ... and when you read it, it seems like even the writers are going overboard with each panel jam pack with word balloons and thought boxes etc etc

What's the story about?

Well once upon a time, some of the characters in both teams have a similar/ linked background i.e. Reno/ Warblade from the CATS and Ripclaw from Cyberforce. And both of them remembered a lady named Misery who is still with the SHOCS (bad guys) ... although each of their memories may not be the same any more thanks to the usual tinkering about ...

Unfortunately Misery is back ... and she is using her powers to manipulate both teams against each other ... because there is something she and her employers want ... that's it. More or less. The fun is seeing them tear into each other over 4 issues or so ...

Enjoy!

Ratings: 8/10

226. WildCATS vol 1 #0 ... Image ... Jim Lee ...

If you are not a fan of Jim Lee or were there collecting comics in the 90s, chances are you may have passed on this title, right? And so is this issue. Because issue 0 of the Cats at that time only came out as a freebie together with the TPB ... I am not sure if they subsequently released it as singles or not ...

But it is good

The artist for this is Brett Booth ... and this is before Booth became too stylized with his people all having about the same features ... and all too tall and too thin ...

Anyway, here we get a glimpsed of all the CATS just before they became a team and how they became a team ... example we get to see Emp and how he ended up as a bump on the streets prior to walking back into the tower of Halo Corp ... we also see glimpses of other comics in the Image universe like SHOC troops and what-not

But the most important or the most spectacular?

Void ... that scene of the mountains and what not ... wow! Amazing artwork and spectacular colouring

So if you don't have this but have read #1 to 4 ... this is worth your time to track it down if only to fill in some early gaps ... but if you don't have #1 to 4 ... I suggest you buy the entire TPB

Ratings: 8/10

225. West Coast Avengers vol 1 #6 ... Marvel ...

3 for 3 ... and in this issue, once more, the writer decided to take a leap into the mystical world ... what's with the writer eh? But hey honestly I enjoyed this when it was coming out regularly and when I went back to the old collection box ... it was still a good read ... plus if you go back and see each cover has a different colour scheme, action, character focus going on ...

As the cover clearly indicates, for this issue, the spotlight is once more on Tigra ... and we are not surprised ... aside from the fact that she is one hot babe what with the fur and bikini costume going on ... and supposedly super strong/ fast/ feral ... all she has done since she rejoined is where she left off years ago ... being scared of everything and everyone ... and always getting beaten, we kid you not

In fact, if you read her own so-called series in one of the Marvel "something or other (Chillers?)", you will find she could actually function as a hero ... but the moment she is with the Avengers, she panicked and left the first time around ... well this time it looks like not much has changed ...

So aside from hitting on the men of the team ... the first few fights was a complete loss ... she lost against the Man Ape and she got knocked by Kraven in issue 3 ... and now we are at 6 ...

Rather than do the obvious, we are given a glimpse and a trail to follow into the world of the Cat People ... supposedly the people who gave Tigra the amulet that allowed her to transform into the Cat Person's ultimate embodiment of a warrior or some such nonsense

And what's this mystical element?

Well, while not so much in this very issue ... but we are led to know that the Cat People may not just be an offshoot of evolution or some such ... but that perhaps they are actually from another dimension ... a "get this" demonic dimension? Hmm ...

Still it makes interesting reading and that's what counts

Ratings: 7/10

224. West Coast Avengers vol 1 #5 ... Marvel ...

[O yes someone wrote and asked if this is vol 1 or 2 ... well, officially this is vol 1 of the ongoing series but ... if you count the 4-issue limited series before, then this can also be vol 2 ... but again, if you are reading comics in the 21st century, does this matter? What with all the relaunches going on every single year?]

Okay

If you thought the last issue with mystics is not enough, here we go again as the writer takes us on yet another potentially mystical villain ... although technically the Werewolf is a hero in the Marvel U. Jack Russell at one time even had his own ongoing series that lasted for something like 3 years and subsequently has been popping up here and there and occassionally belonging to a group of "villains"

In here, well, come on ... he is a Wolf and no matter how strong he is or fast or how sharp his claws ... if he were to go up against Iron Man or Wonder Man what can he really do, right? So in that sense, you know that this story regardless of the great ideas on the cover can never allow the Wolf to pose that big a threat unless ... it is the prelude to something else ... hehehe ... so is it?

Well read this to find out

Ratings: 6/10 (an extra 1 point for that cover)

223. WCA vol 1 #4 ... Marvel ...

In every good comic book series, usually there will be some new villains that have staying power. This can be in the form of a recurring nemesis for that series or someone so big that it goes beyond that of the series itself. And when it is a team book like this, the West Coast Avengers, the change in roster is always something to look out for. So in the 4th issue of the regular ongoing series, we have both of these critical points happening and both are clearly reflected on the cover. So no SPOILER alerts here

First up is Master Pandemonium. While the tale is generally told in 1 issue, it doesn't wrap up well with the villain truly defeated. So it means more of the Panda-man is coming. As the cover shows, the Avengers have a new villain who is more magical based than scientific based which is never a good thing for them especially since they have no go-to guy for magics in this issue

And as the cover shows, this chap can rip a hole in his torso as a gateway for demonic like beings to come flooding out and attacking and destroying anything and everyone

So what's his motive and why is he here? Not everything is disclosed here and more will come in the years ahead (that's the beauty of these dated reviews eh?)

Finally we reach the second point. By this time, the regular Avengers team book is renown for guest stars and even new members on short stay. Well through the first mini series and until this issue, the WCA has been stable with Wonder Man, Iron Man, Hawkeye, Mockingbird and Tigra - generally low on the power scale of the other team of A

So when we see the Thing on the cover, it made all the fans wonder if after his sojourn in outer space, Ben is finally back on Earth but deciding to go with the Avengers instead of his regular FF mates. If so, no surprises there as well because he has a solo book at that time where this tale is told of his disinterest or unhappiness with the FF. This is so that his regular solo book has some legs and joining the WCA? Promises to be a lot of fun even though his ability is merely strength something that Wondie and IM already have

So does he join the team in the end?

Well, Hawkeye does try hard to persuade him!

Ratings: 7/10

222. X-Men vol 1 #1 ... Marvel ...

We were looking for something wonderful to review and is surprised to find this issue because apparently after all these 200 odd reviews, we have never touched on this! So since it is such a famous issue, let's do this one straight and to the point, eh?

First up, this came when Marvel recognizes that it has some of the hottest artists ever in the history of comics and decided, rightly enough to capitalize. Jim Lee who is already doing Uncanny X-Men is offered to start a new X-Men title here with issue 1 and 5 covers! While his regular slot on Uncanny is taken over by Whilce Portacio ... who is doing a stellar run on X-Factor while ... Rob Liefeld whose work has reinvigorated New Mutants ... is allowed to relaunch that title as X-Force ... and of course Todd Mc has launched a new Spider-Man title

See?

Lots of good stuff going on at that time

Storyline? Well, to fit the grand launch we have Magneto doing his next play ... and this time he has set up on Asteroid M his new home in space .... lording it over us all and threatening life on Earth by resurrecting the old submarine from his early days that has nuclear weapons

So the X-team has to figure out how to approach him in space to stop him while remaining undetected ... no easy task here people ... but this book just ROCKS!

Ratings: 8/10

221. Uncanny X-Men vol 1 #190 & 191 ... Marvel ...

Back in Chris Claremont, writer extraordinaire's hey day, this is the type of work he can produce on a regular basis. As if the past few years' run of non stop good tales was not sufficient to earn him a slip up, as if the past few issues of over-the-top action was not enough, here he comes with another 2-parter that just kicks so much  @$$

The opening issue wastes no time as we see a world immediately transformed and left us wondering in the first few pages WTF happened from the last issue to this! As it is, a green curtain has thrown up around Manhattan and anyone and anything within, is transformed to something from the age of Conan the Barbarian

And with that transformation, everyone sort of loses their sense of self including remembering that they had been transformed. Who is responsible? Kulan Gath - and this is the guy whose plot has been building up in the form of a necklace found by a dock worker (see how sub plots take months to develop and BANG unleashed as something big?)

So while the outside world is trying to understand what is going on, inside the curtain, all is not well. Like any new power, there are those who support (Callisto) and those who object (Avengers). Amongst all these is Spider Man who for some reason is totally unaffected by the master spell. So naturally Gath has it in for the Spider by sending his people to hunt Spiderman down

Everyone and we mean everyone is featured besides Spidey, we have the aforementioned Avengers (Wasp is some disgusting insect!) and the New Mutants (bad guys too) and the X-Men (naturally). The great thing about Marvel tales of that era is that they somehow managed to squeeze so much into 2 issues with no crossover to other issues!

Ummm do we need to say that huge fight ensues?

Oh yes and we learn a bit more about Selene whom we were given a heap ful from last issue

Ratings: 9/10

220. X-Man vol 1 #5 ... Marvel ...

In the world of mini-series, the one resounding promise they all scream at us is that this series will have lasting changes upon the actual comics universe that they exist within. And once in a while, it actually does come through. During the 1990s, the Age of Apocalypse had 2 things going for it aside from terrific storyline

The first is when all mutant titles are stopped and replaced with alternate versions of those titles with new art teams and storylines for several months and the next is that at the end of the miniseries, we have this: a character from that universe surviving into ours

X-Man is Nate Summers ... child of "one mutant" couple ... obviously which one we all know ... but is he test tube baby or real? And his equivalent is Cable in the Marvel 616 universe

So why do we start the review with 5?

Because the first 4 issues is when the Age of Apo is going on and like all other titles, after 4 months, month 5 shows all characters returning to the normal Marvel U and with it comes Nate as well as a few villains like Dark Beast, Sugarman and Holocaust

Nate is basically Cable without the techno organic virus. The only problem is he grew up in a slave pen where everyone is potentially an enemy so when he comes to our Marvel U, he has huge trust issues and is confused by what is going on. Unfortunately he doesn't appear to be friendless for long. Why Unfortunately? Because those zeroing in on him has ulterior motives

And one more thing - this version of Cable is so powerful that his own power is burning him dry!

Ratings: 7/10

219. X-Force vol 1 #5 to 7 ... Marvel ...

I was going to spread this over 3 reviews and then ... when I looked at the awesome covers by Rob Liefeld ... I just couldn't wait any more and decided to do this all at once ... after all, it is one story arc!

So our dear X-force team, after a huge fight for absolutely no good reason except to show their teeth with spittle dripping everywhere, fled back to the Indian reservation where they are supposedly hiding or something. This is their idea of downtime. With some members resting, others are gritting their teeth, shouting at each other with fists clenched. Hey! This is the era of Rob's X-Force and if you don't like it ... stay the F away ... because we LOVED it inspite of all its "oddities"

5 - as the cover indicates shows us that the Brotherhood of Evil is back and this time the leadership is by Toad who apparently, becomes like the Beast in terms of intellectual capabilities. Not sure how it happened but it did and apparently they decided they need Sauron ... and so they had to kill some people to give Sauron energy to feed and transform!

6 - is the official run into each other and fight issue. X-Force is still having their heart-to-heart when they are suddenly attacked by the Brotherhood

7 - you see Sam on the cover fallen? Okay it happened inside as well. For no clear reason in this issue (or subsequent issue), somehow while Sam is blasting and supposedly invulnerable, Sauron could gut him making him collapse (yup we know but like we said this is the era of Rob so go with it). What's really cool here? Some of the scenes that had the characters almost in black silhouette. What's not so cool? Skinny babes who are maybe 1/3 the size of Cable's thighs hahaha! From the cover, it's 1/4!

Still lots of fighting and naturally at the end, Cable comes, grits his teeth and shoots everything and everyone. No real conclusion in terms of the baddies getting nailed but rather they made a run for it and we have the Cannonball situation to deal with. From his issue 2 challenge of being gutted by team mate Feral to this issue, one would not be mistaken to assume that this is how Rob likes Cannonball - gutted every 6 issues once! Hahahaha!

Ratings: 8/10