2.189 (554) Crimson #7 ... Image ...

A long, long, long time ago; we did a batch review of this i.e from issues 1 to 6 and have not revisited this title since which is a bit of a shocker considering how we are such fans of artist Humberto Ramos and his work from waaaaay back then ...

And also a long, long time ago; Image had many studios and then came a time when others tried to emulate the early boom of Image ... and thus artists Ramos/ Campbell/ Madureira formed a studio or brand called Cliffhanger ... unfortunately only Ramos stuck it out and produced a decent series while Mad didn't finish his and Campbell was in and out with short short short series ...

So in issue 7, after we learnt so much about vampires and what Alex is becoming (a teen who got bitten by vampires only to learn that there is much more than even vampires) ... we continue on with the plot as this issue opens up to more news behind the scenes ... in fact, that's what this entire issue is all about ... talking heads ... we kid you not

Regardless of the cover, there is almost no action scene except a couple of snapshots when memories are being recalled of times past

Basically, to a certain extent, there is no lying from the covers. Alex does indeed have a quiet moment in a dinner only to suddenly find strange things happening. And before he knows it, angels in human guises have infiltrated the dinner pronouncing death for one such as him. So who is going to come to his defence using clever words?

You got it!

Lucifer - the head honcho of hell. And that's what this is about ... more talk about missions and purposes and timing ... and then everyone departs and Alex? He finds a little flower during the snowing storms of Christmas

See? We didn't have to holler SPOILER ALERT because unless you are a completist you can skip this comic

Ratings: 4/10 (would have been lower if not for the art)

2.188 (553) Deadpool v Carnage 2014 #1 ... Marvel ...

We seemed to be reviewing a shitload of number ones, eh? That just goes to tell you that either there is a huge talent and buyer market boom or that comics companies are trying to squeeze every possible dime from all its existing readers ... and with this book in hand? The latter comes to mind

I mean, there is a semi-regular (we call it that because of the many relaunches) Deadpool series out there ... so why is there a need for this limited series when it is just another story about Deadpool's ongoing life of mayhem and carnage (no pun intended)?

Let us show you what we mean ...

SPOILER ALERT

Cletus Arkady a serial killer got bonded with an alien symbiote's offspring (baby you idiot) ... and this alien symbiote was the one who became Spidey's original black suit before breaking away and transforming into Venom (formerly bad guy turned good recently) ... got it?

And as usual, he broke out of prison and started random killings ...

So with nothing better to do than live inside his own head and going crazy, Deadpool decides to hunt down Carnage and kill him free ... what kind of shit ass merc is that? We honestly do not know. All we get is a series of rambling through each page until they find each other and try to kill each other ... while we know Deadpool has regenerative capabilities, it seems that they are even faster than Wolvie's as he could generate his hand within seconds from nothing ness ...

If you are wondering what next ... there is none. That's it! End of issue 1 ... see what we mean? This could have been included as a shorter arc in an ongoing chapter of Deadpool's own comic ... sigh!

Ratings: 3/10

2.187 (552) Books of Magic vol 1 #1 ... Vertigo DC ...

One of the best series we have ever had the pleasure of reading ... well not just this the first volume of 4 issues but the bulk of the (at that time) ongoing series of 75 issues ... after that, you are advised not to continue because they are trying to show years later and when a teen grows up and what-not and sort of spoilt the "magic" (no pun intended) for us readers

Anyhow ... if you recall when Harry Potter first came out in about 2000, when it became a hit, many are those who claimed that Harry was inspired by this or that story ... well for me, I thought Harry was inspired by this series because here we have a bookish, glass wearing kid who is going on to his teens and suddenly discovering that beyond this mundane world of ours lies one where magic is rampant ... and that he has the potential to be the greatest sorcerer of them all! See what I mean?

But we digress a little too much already ... so let's rein it in and stay focus!

This first issue ... we are given a glimpse of young Tim who is busy practising skateboarding only to encounter spooky looking men in trenchcoat trying to talk to him ... and if you are a teen out alone you know you better watch it in case these are paedophiles, know what we mean?

Talk about poor social skills!

SPOILER ALERT

The four who entered are the Stranger, Dr Occult, Mr E and John Constantine ... and after making their mysterious and eerie presences felt, they decided to corral Tim and talk to him directly explaining their purpose ... naturally being at that age, the first strand of thought was that predictable ... with power means no more bullying! Writer Neil just gets it so well!

And so for the rest of this book, Tim starts his journey with the Stranger ... or he who has no name as he believes name gives his opponent power over him ... and he rather not have a nickname ... apparently he has the ability to bring Tim into the distant past ... and so Tim's lesson and tour began ...

All the way to the beginning of our universe ... and when the Angels fought and fell from heaven (we kid you not) ... and then fast forward to a few practitioners of magic and some of their sad endings ...

The Stranger is trying to show Tim that power is not everything and as it is the past, he can show Tim the ends of powerful mages and they do not live a happily ever after life. If you put this in current society context, it can be seen as a moral lesson or even social commentary, I guess ... a bit simplistic obviously as there is too few pages ... and this is a comic which means there needs be room for graphics and not just words ... but still this is a great opening chapter

We end the book with Tim and Constantine going to take the next journey together and that is a trip through the current world ... and that continues in issue 2

The artwork for this is brilliant ... every single page is so good

Ratings: 9/10

2.186 (551) Fear Itself #1 ... Marvel ...

[We are almost current with our reviews ... another 15 and we should be fine ... hahaha ... and for those who do not understand what it means is our reviews are backdated ... example as of time of typing, this is already 19th Mar but we are posting this as 22nd Feb]

So ... every year now both Marvel and DC are continuing with their events and I must admit through the past decade there always seem some sort of parallel almost as if the EIC are sharing meetings and ideas. However, sad to say, for me at least, I am suffering from even fatigue and the last one, with the worlds all collided and become one big battleworld and the titles become a big huge mess? So not for the casual reader or even an avid like me who is busy reading back issues and do not follow every single new issue that comes out. And while it is nice to have change, but it feels like a little too much ... like an overhaul ... this would feel better as an alternate universe kind of tale ... but that's just me and my team

Onward ... Fear Itself ... came out in 2011 if we are not mistaken ... and this time, it is the Red Skull's daughter Sin who is going forward to find one of the so-called Nazi treasures that are either not permitted to be used or still not understand how to use ... and that's how this book opens ... with Sin and her team storming into a hidden fortress where old world Nazis have been kept on extended lifespans to protect something special ... something mystical

SPOILER ALERT

And basically this something mystical is the essence of the Serpent ... who is the Serpent? Well he has a human form and at this early juncture, we are probably supposed to assume that it is just a name for someone nasty and evil ...

So Sin has made the opening moves and what of the heroes, you ask? The Avengers start off with Cap and his gal pal trying to quell a riot and failing ... yup that's right ... failing you read that right! Not a good start and you know the writer is going to milk the next few issues ... what made it worse is that the riot appears to be natural not caused by some outside agent ... so much for Cap's belief in the goodness of the average American, eh?

On another front, as the cover shows Thor, those who do not follow Thor will not understand why at this juncture, after the fall and resurrection of Asgard, why Odin and Thor seemed to have a mad-on for each other because hey ... they actually are so nasty and out of character .... I mean we have seen Odin being imperious but no matter how angry with his father Thor has been ... this is way out of line

And that's even before the coming of the Serpent ... and when he is brought back to our plane ... woe be to the mortal plane ... for he sends forth special weapons that will seek out those who are going to be his vessels while he gathers his strength for revenge ...

Against who?

Odin ... no one remembers the Serpent except Odin ... and boy does Odin have a lot of nasty secrets hidden that is going to come spilling out

Ratings: 5/10 (good story but I am no fan of Immonen and surprised they gave an event series to him - thank goodness for the McNiven cover)

2.185 (550) Termination Salvation The Final Battle #1 ... Dark Horse ...

If there is one thing Dark Horse is generally well known for, it is the fact that their artwork lacks lustre i.e. is very workmanlike and minus any of the usual gloss and shine that more conventional works are well known for like Jim Lee, David Finch, Arthur Adams ... not that we are saying Dark Horse is bad ... just well ... that and there are some who do good work like in Star Wars but not here unfortunately. And when you look at that cover, it already tells you so much

We have no idea at this point if this is related to the last T movie, Genesys but this book with weak art opens in the usual T style

John is alive and well in the future. Once more, there are time machines being activated and John is preparing his people, motivating them as well to make the jump into the past once the machines are fixed and ready ... to kick robot ass and save the timeline for innumerable times already hahaha

And naturally, the bad guys have already sent some robots into the past

In short, this entire issue is set up for the future action outbreak and we are sincerely hoping that there are plenty of action to come because with this weak lamb of an opening issue, it doesn't leave us motivated to even consider the next issue

Ratings: 3/10

2.184 (549) The Punisher (2009) #1 ... Marvel ...

Embarrassing moment time again ... imagine that this is review 549 which means we have 548 reviews before this ... and imagine we have ... as we have just checked done only 1 (count them right ONE) review of any Punisher comic. You may be wondering what the big deal is. You may even say that he is lame because you have only seen all the many versions of the movie ... and if you have, we wouldn't blame you but if you so much as open one of these babies ... you will love them (we hope). Honestly, the last 15 years or so, most of the Punisher tales are greeeeeat

SPOILER ALERT

What made this new relaunch special? Firstly, it deals with a period when it is called Dark Reign i.e. when the Goblin, Osborn became saviour of the world, everyone loves him and he is given the great job of running global security in the form of HAMMER (replacing SHIELD) and leader of his own Avengers team ...

Naturally our friend Castle knows that Osborn is the psycho that he has always been and as how he normally deals with baddies, he decides to save the world by offing Norman. So do not be misled by that cover although that is an awesome cover even if the artist on the interior is a different chap but hey the interior with its rushed and gritty looks work so well too

Anyway the entire issue is basically about that. Frank wants to off Norman using Skrull weapon. Sentry being the Marvel Superman equivalent caught the bullet and chased him down thinking that a powerless human could not really hope to evade him and the fun for us mere mortals is in watching how Frank can bite down his lower lip and just make a mad dash for it ignoring his pains

Oh yeah before we end ... in the past, Frank had a help from someone named Microchip who lost his life ... so this issue we are introduced to a mysterious new person ... who appears like the opening scenes in Matrix ... cryptic and guiding him forward ... who is this new chap?

Next issue, people, next issue!

Ratings: 8/ 10

2.183 (548) The Astonishing Thor #1 ... Marvel ...

Like many a Marvel relaunch in the past decade or so, aside from ongoing relaunches that can be relaunched within a year or two, simultaneously there will be limited series and elseworlds stuff going on so at the end of the day, it doesn't matter. If the tale is entertaining and the art is your taste, go for it and for us, the name Choi (see X-23 review) was what drew us in

So obviously this cover is not it hahahahahahha not nice we know but interiors has some awesome Choi work

And as for the storyline, well, you get Mr Norse God here doing his usual when something out of the ordinary happens and he has flashbacks to a distant past and by distant we meant to somewhere in his youth centuries ago when he encountered another deity whose pantheon supposedly preceded even that of Asgard and this winsome lass is in the mother nature way as well

Anyway like a bad dream (or good nightmare) the visage of her disappears and before you can say Guardians of the Galaxy, Thor finds himself zooming into space to investigate

So what's the big threat here? Well it certainly is cosmic SPOILER ALERT Folks you can expect to pop up in this series includes 2 Elder Gods called the Stranger and the Collector and the sentient planet called Ego and ... one more we shall keep mum ...

All in all, it is an enjoyable read. BUT if you are not a Thor fan, this may not win you over as it does still feel somewhat weighty. Not sure if that is the right word to describe this tale though

Ratings: 6/10

2.182 (547) All star Batman and Robin #3 ... DC ...

Man we thought we would have at least done one review from this series but when we checked, nothing. This is bad because it is a Jim Lee production. Sigh! Anyway, for those who have not seen this or considering to get it, our simple conclusion is YES for the artwork and the colouring. And if you enjoyed HUSH, you will definitely like this

Similar to Superman, this All-star is not tied into continuity or even same universe and in this series, we get Miller and Lee's version of how Batman came to work with Robin. Naturally as this is issue three, we need to give you some summary of what happened in the earlier issues ... and here is it ... Gotham is corrupt, Bruce is Batman, Alfred works for Bruce, the police are all corrupt ... and Dick's parents were shot while performing in the circus with Dick being then carted off by the bad guys ... Batman intervened and rescued him and kidnapped him himself (yes we kid you not) ... and reporter Vale got herself hurt

And so begins this issue

The tale is entertaining and the art is awesome but if you actually read the comic, it just makes no sense. Firstly is the dialogue. Everyone speaks in the same voice and everyone loves short sentences and keep on repeating them as if in shock! I am not sure why Miller is going for this. He has done some awesome work in places like Dardevil, 300 and Sin City but this is just plain weird. We mean if it is Vale, we can understand because she is literally in shock as she was in an accident and Alfred is trying to give her a quick stop gap first aid before hospital (she fainted in his arms!) but the rest?

And then there is the Batman with his intention of scaring Dick and appearing weird like some mentally psychotic chap ... and the inconsistent storyline made it worse ... in this issue, Batman has rescued Dick but they are still in his car i.e. haven't gone home and he is trying to impress Robin/ Dick with everything his car can do ... while his own internal monologue includes thoughts such as how he had been eyeing Dick as a potential sidekick and hopes that he is right about Dick ... hey how is that even possible when Dick has parents and he travels with the circus all over the world! What does Bruce hope to do? Kidnap him? Buy him off from his parents?

Next up is the cover where we see Canary and this part is just plain awesome. We loved the fact that it is a bar named Canary and her costume is literally the costume of her working place. That we thought was great although at no point were we made clear why while working she kept on getting the hots for what Bats is doing in the city ... again some weird monologue thought stuff going on there

And now for the craziest part ... so while it is still the same day/ night that Dick has just been kidnapped ... apparently in Metropolis where Batman stays Dick's missing mug is already on the milk cartons! Hello! It hasn't even hit the papers yet. How is this even possible? Can they not think of a way to get Superman to be upset without using milk carton? Imagine Clark buying milk and then at home seeing the message. That would means days and weeks have passed! WTF right?

Ratings: 7/10 (would have been a 9 if not for the crazy plots)

2.181 (546) Wolverine & Black Cat: Claws #1 ... Marvel ...

A decade ago, Marvel came out with this awesome limited series (3 issues) teaming up Black Cat (cat burglar ala Catwoman except that she is a fun personality and a regular in Spider Man) with Wolverine  - odd couple ... and they got a famous artist, Joe to do the honors and what a ride this is and we are not just talking the art

The storyline is just a celebration of the characters in the sense that they did not make this an earth-shattering someone's life will be altered forever kind of tale but just a good fun romp in the park style

So we open up the book with two separate storylines as Wolverine does what he does best which is appear grumpy and unfriendly most of the time and then on the flipside, there is Spider Man and Black Cat playing tag across the rooftops ... except that we are not sure why Spidey decided to try and get a little fresh with Cat when in the past, it was Cat who is after Spidey (you see, we are not fans of the Spider comic and hence the "lost") ...

Now from out of nowhere ... SPLANG both Wolverine and the Cat found themselves being ambushed and knocked unconscious ... and before they knew it, they both woke up on a mysterious place ... where the dead (Kraven) apparently came back to life and is organizing a safari of sorts with rich types to hunt and kill Wolvie and Cat

Obviously, it ended somewhere in the middle because this is but the first issue but it's just such a pleasure to read that you know you will come back for more

Ratings: 7/10

2.180 (545) Iron Man (2008) #1 ... Marvel ...

Permit us to rant for a bit before this review proper starts: thanks to all the various relaunches by Marvel every couple or so years for the past decade or more, we have no idea which volume this "ongoing" is. Volume 6 or what? So for ease of reference we will 2008 as it lasted a few years from this year onwards ... the only clear volumes of Iron Man, as far as we are concerned was the first run that finished in the 300s ... the Heroes Reborn 13 issues ... then comes the series where life goes back to normal ... that's three volumes and that's the only ones we can remember in sequence ... hehehe ...

Okay

Look at that Quesada cover. We have no idea if a cover can get any better than this. There are so many squiggly lines everywhere but the awesome effort of the colorist has re-done the lines with some in colour not inked and otherwise but ... but it is so good! Look at that shiny bits reflecting. Ugh. So envious of Quesada!

And interiors for this series is by one of our faves ... Larocca. This guy's style has evolved from his days in the house of X to this but one thing remains consistent ... clear lines and great angles. And he proves his capability by doing Iron Man where tech is paramount. Sure his backgrounds do seem sparse at times but it does suit the scenes he is trying to tell the tale and he is fast! Churning these issues out! Machine!

In this issue, we see a Stark that is still on top of the world. He is rich and has his own global conglomerate. He is also a mighty Avenger. And finally he got himself drafted into SHIELD to run it. How does a man manage to do that in 24 hours no matter how smart he is, eh?

Futurist - is the term Marvel granted Stark where we assumed he is a better gauge of what the future may bring to mankind if steered in a particular direction and so Stark goes blindly and arrogantly forward focusing on what are the bigger pieces on his chessboard without realizing a brand new player, someone who is tied to his past but was never on the radar has decided to jump onto the playing field. Just who and how he is connected will be delved into as the storylines progresses but in the opening sequences, we see suicide bombers utilizing a tech that is similar to the Iron Man's chestplate!

How is that for an opening chapter? Marvel - you did it this time!

Ratings: 9/ 10

2.179 (544) x-23 Target #1 to 6 ... Marvel ...

Once in a while, a limited series is so good, that I just have to do a full review. It's not that each issue doesn't deserve its own slot, they do but they are just sooooooooooooooooo good. Take this series

First up is artistic team of Choi and Oback. The lines are clean and facial expressions are spot on. They can do beautiful shots (like the various out of costume young girls fashion wear for Laura) as well as uniforms for the goons (so detailed and yet believable). And at no time are their choice of panels and angles boring. They execute everything well - from quiet chatty scenes to action bits. So good that I will definitely look forward to whatever they bring out

Now as for the tale itself, this takes place at the early stages of X-23's rising popularity. All you need to know is that somewhere in his past, someone decided to clone Wolverine except that they want said clone to be controllable and in the case of X, the ultimate assassin is possessed of the face of a sweet young girl. Unfortunately she is trained like Pavlov's dog. The right scent and she loses total control of herself. The kill is all that matters

So this series takes the form of the end where X SPOILER ALERT is brought down to Justice by Captain America and with the assistance of Daredevil, they began questioning X to find out how guilty she is of her past handiwork

To their shock, X tells it as it is. No pretence, no overwrought drama, no threats, nothing. Just patiently answering their questions and basically the questions cover from her escape to freedom and finding her "mother's" family ... and finally fitting in

And as this is not Little House on the Prairie's Laura tales but rather that of the mutants, you can bet some baddie will disrupt life for her and what a baddie it is. Kimura - badass chick!

And as if that wasn't enough, during the telling of her past, we get invitations to stroll through some of her awesome fight sequences and kills especially when team Kimura hunts Laura. Damn! Those claws and those slashes are killer

And again as if that isn't enough, when she finally comes to the home of the X and challenges Wolvie to a fight, she even figured out an innovative way to make him bleed to death or at least slow him down. Naturally he was fighting her but holding back a bit thus making him more vulnerable. Much as we love Wolvie, we always wonder how he fights! He is supposed to be experienced. However, his standard style is to let his healing factor do all the hard work as if he enjoys the pain of being shot and stab and what-not

In conclusion - this is a must read if you are a fan of comics or mutantdom because ... awesome art + awesome story = awesome comic!

Ratings: 9/10

2.178 (543) Youngblood vol 1 #7 ... Image ...

It's been a while since we look at a Youngblood. This is the first title out of Image from way back when and when Liefeld came back from his sabbatical, boy did he pencil the S**T out of this title. I mean, check out that killer title. Sure, you can say the Thing or Hulk ... because it is about huge, muscular chaps ... but Bedrock or Badrock just plain rocks! And this cover is ace!

As for the story within, if you have read the last issue and you are generally aware of what's going on in the Image universe, then this issue is brilliant. Otherwise, you will have some catching up to do but not to the point that it confuses you

The main points covered are SPOILER ALERT ... dealing with the new members that was showcased last issue. First up, we get to see Aussie Mick known as Knight Sabre going through his own practise session and doing a bang up job (love the costume) ... and then we get to see midget Troll (who based on his own thoughts and those balloon boxes seemed to be a real Troll although why so short, eh?) ... who is going through the routines and trying to show he is indeed a bad ass have-fun-all-the-time chap ...

And smack into this is Shaft ... who is finding it tough to negotiate between life as a super hero, being like a cop catching bad guys and also being a role model in the limelight ... love the opening sequence and all that fridge (hehehe you have to buy to know what we are referring to) ...

And lastly to ensure the cover is not a complete letdown we see Badrock on holidays skiing while his PR team is busy trying to ensure his popularity ratings stay sky high to combat the public's apparent growing love for Troll (WTF?!?!?!) ... now as this is also a comic, we need a bad guy and we get them of a size equivalent to 'rock in the form of Overkill (who also works in Spawn's corner of the I-verse) ...

As if that weren't enough ...we are given a glimpse of Chapel ... imagine less than a dozen issues and already so much development as Chapel who is in Youngblood has been transferred to Bloodstrike to takeover from Cabbot and not liking it, he blames someone ... and is planning a pre-emptive strike over in Spawn (again). See? Loads and loads of stuff happening every 2 to 4 pages ...

Ratings: 6/10 (if only interiors had matched the cover not that interiors are bad but the cover is sooo freakin' good
)

2.177 (542) Civil War Fallen Son The Death of Captain America: Wolverine #1 ... Marvel ...

In view of the forthcoming Civil War movie, we decided to take a little trip back to the original ending run of the first Marvel Civil War series (yes there is a new series with the same name). SPOILER ALERT

This series deals with the aftermath of that ... when Captain America surrendered, gave himself up for due process ... only to be shot dead in front of the world as he marched up the stairs ... so who shot him and why? And is he really dead (at that time)?

Well that's all answered later on in his own series and it led to some awesome stories. However, this particular issue is the first in the stages of Denial series ... and we get Wolverine as the lynchpin role here ... for some odd reason, this affected him tremendously and he goes out of his way to determine if the man who was shot was really Cap

And in his journey, we get glimpses of him joining Bucky the Winter Soldier and enlisting both Daredevil and Doctor Strange to penetrate the walls of SHIELD. He even encounters Iron Man and Hank Pym as Giant Man in his quest albeit at that time, they were the opposite Avengers team called Mighty Avengers while Wolvie was with Luke Cage's team called New Avengers

It is surprisingly a simple, sad journey ... wherein he concluded that what was before him was indeed that ... the body of Cap ... of course being Wolverine it doesn't end there even though this issue does as he promises to investigate to find out who really killed Cap since the official shooter in custody, Crossbones, a grunt for the Red Skull did shoot but did not deliver the kill shot

Ratings: 6/10

2.176 (541) Chew #51 ... Image ...

Once, a long time ago, you need to go Vertigo to get off the beaten path type of stories and then after the superhero craze explosion of the 90s, exploded; Image became an awesome place for experimental stuff too

And with that, we present CHEW by creators whom we are not familiar with. It is now 7 years since this title started and the steam that made it chug along is still blowing hot and strong ... whatever that means ... hey we are trying to diversify in the way we type these reviews, okay?

SPOILER ALERT

For those not in the know, basically there was a bad avian flu and loads of people died. Many countries outright banned chicken and eggs to the point that it became a valuable illegal commodity similar to drugs. And like everything that is illegal, there is also some in the scientific community that tried to make synthetic versions of it

Now dumped into the mix are special people who are born with abilities that with one bite can acquire special knowledge, skills, etc and we have agent Chu (rhymes with Chew), an Oriental looking chap who joins the FDA and busily trying to bring down the baddies

What really works here is the huge odd cast of characters from Men in Black, his partner, fellow agents, the "cockerel", his twin sister, brother and even a SPOILER ALERT daughter

Now after 50 issues, this starts a fresh

For those not in the know again, we open with a scene in heaven where we get to see Tony's twin breaking the fourth wall communicating with readers and given a comedic snapshot of his brother, a famous, nasty, greedy chef

But that's not the crux of the issue. The main focal point is on Tony's daughter who is now in the presidential kitchen preparing meals with fellow intern (and drug head) while Easter PR is ongoing in the presidential grounds. The oddity? It's a platypus not the bunny anymore

And as it is about PI and violence, we naturally have a hostage situation that requires our young lady to demonstrate her various talents

A very engaging read and the cute visuals are just perfect for this

Ratings: 8/10