2.134 (499) Planetary #1 ... Wildstorm ...

Finally a break from Marvel to ... Wildstorm ... at this time I am not sure if they are Image or DC and I couldn't be bothered to scrutinize the fine writing at the bottom of the page. Hah! Who cares?

This issue though not new shows us the potential of what the Authority and Stormwatch could be. We also have a younger John Cassaday whose artwork is already phenomenal even at this stage and Warren Ellis giving his all

As the title and cover shows, we see this as your non-traditional superhero comic. It is about a group of always three people though we are not sure why who is hired and recruited into this awesomely weirdly high tech organization where there seems to be no one else and their jobs are to go on missions that are just plain weird with potentially X-Files style except to the max

As this issue opens, we are introduced Jakita (the lady who turns out to enjoy a good brawl hence her dressing and she is the most "super hero" of the group) who comes a recruiting to a café in the middle of somewhere. The gentleman she is recruiting is one Snow (chap in white). What makes him special is he is one of those millennia type folks i.e. living below the radar but have existed for a full millennia (yup a hundred years old) with what other abilities no one is sure

The third team member is Drums and his ability is that he can tap into all sorts of data wavelengths but he needs to draw them out. We are not told all this but the artwork after a few issues sort of shows you this and hence the need to always drum or stamp his feet (weird right?)

And in this issue, they are sent to explore something that just came up on the mysterious radar blip only to discover that the "evil" is none other than SPOILER ALERT an aging Brass who has stayed there protecting the world from the "evil" after his ancient team had been decimated. He has survived but he didn't know the actual number of years (half a century) had passed by and he is still alive!

How's that for an eye opener of a first issue? Definitely makes us want to come back for more

Ratings: 8/10

2.133 (498) Darth Vader 2015 #1 ... Marvel ...

If you are any sort of Star Wars fan, be it movie/ comics/ cartoons, you would know of two things that is happening this year. First and foremost - part 7 or rather VII of the movie is coming out next month and secondly, more in relation to our reviews, the comic franchise has been shifted from Dark Horse back to Marvel ... we say back to because during the original run of movies 4 to 6, the comics were at the house of M (heh)

Anyway, what's really important is that in this issue (wow we are reviewing a current comic more or less) it is plainly AWESOME

Yes it is that good that it deserves caps. So let's say it again - AWESOME

Basically as the title indicates this is a series told from Darth's perspectives except that to make his presence more ominous there are no thought balloons. And so when you see him in that face mask coming and no words coming out ... well, it is soooo good as if watching a movie

Now for those wondering how a villain can carry a comic series, well, all we can say is try this. It starts after the end of the Deathstar ship that was destroyed by the rebels. As we all remember, Darth tried and failed to stop it and so for the first time since he became a Darth to his Sith Lord, the Emperor, he has failed. And naturally he must be wondering how the Emperor will take it. If the Emperor treats him like the way he treats others, it will be nasty

While all this is ongoing, and the Emperor is not helping by deliberately (or otherwise) showing his dealings with others of whom Darth has no idea of their true identity or purpose, Darth's head is all a swirl about the young Jedi whom he met as they were under the impression that all Jedi were thought dead and gone with ... at that time ... perhaps a failing Obi-wan scuttling a way. So this became one of the objectives in his planning ... to locate and identify and if need be exterminate

All this on top of his personal quest to track down and eliminate the rebels who brought shame to his door

What an opener of an issue. O yeah for those who like the original stormtroopers and not those from the clone wars era, you get them here

Ratings: 9/10

2.132 (497) X-Men vol 1 #115 ... Marvel ... (New X-Men)

After that last issue (review), if you are a casual reader or long time but lapsed reader of the X-Men, for sure, you know, you are going to come back for more, right? Hehehe! Because we know we did when it first came out on floppies or singles or loose issues and we actually waited for it

This second issue is no disappointment. From the cover of an awesomely smug Wolvie to the interiors and coloring, just superb and converted us into a fan of Frank Quitely

SPOILER ALERT

Sorry we re-read the issue trying to figure out how not to spoil it for you but there is just so much goodness here that it would be a literary crime for us to not do all we can to make you go read it. So without further ado, if you buy this, here is what you are going to get:

1. Ugly throwaway mutants - yup Morrison and Quitely gave us a few new characters whose destiny it is to remain useless but still interesting - look at that annoying guy with more than one physical face!

2. Awesomely nasty new villains - Cassandra makes her move and while our heroes track her down and confront all sorts of new config for Sentinels and their guards, boy o boy, were they all mistaken if that was all the threat she posed because hey X people she has even more evil plans that are already in motion

3. Prof X - while Beast and Jean help him to recover, they found out to their own mental peril that once again Cassandra has plotted out her mad schemes several steps ahead

4. Cyclops - was way cool in how he handled both Cassandra and descendant of Trask

5. Ending - but nothing beats the ending of poor Magneto and his island nation! That was AWESOME!

Ratings: 9/10

2.131 (496) X-Men vol 1 #114 ... Marvel ...

In the life of a comics series, there will come a time when the usual run of creators are unable to bring new energy and enthusiasm to the book. And then it faces declining sales and potential cancellation. So from out of nowhere, Marvel brought in 2 talents that have been making waves over at DC - Frank Quitely (artist) and Grant Morrison (writer) and what a breath of fresh air they both did!

First up, they discarded the old cartoony costumes and introduced black jackets, leggings and what-not that is then shared with the movies (albeit not so cool looking even in the movies) and as you can see from the cover, a certain amount of swagger and confidence to the characters

While Morrison, he turned them from the usual angst ridden heroes into a bunch of experienced adventurers who each have their own personality. In this issue, he introduced no less than a new super villain named Cassandra Nova. At this point, we do not know who she really is except that she is like a shrunken old auntie wearing weird safari suit and appointing a legacy of Sentinel founder Trask onboard ... and they are taking a journey through various times of the human progress and witnessing how humanity has grown ... the message is there and if you follow the series you will see how well-laid out the storylines are ...

And also as a first introduction to her presence, she chose none other than to strike at Charles Xavier while he is hooked up with Cerebra

So aside from Prof X, this issue sees a very unique combination of X-characters. We have Cyclops as leader (naturally), two psychics in the form of Jean and Emma and two beastlike characters in the form of Hank and Logan

Can't wait for the next issue!

Ratings: 9/10

2.130 (495) All New X-Men vol 1 #1 ... Marvel ...

Finally we are "up to the times" so to speak as we review a series that is actually an on-going and not suffering from reboot and only three years old! Howabout that, eh? Hehehehehe!

Honestly, I avoided this book even though I have it in soft copy and hard copy simply because of the artist, Stuart Immonen. Sorry but I didn't enjoy his past work and it all looks a bit rushed and murky. But I have been pleasantly surprised and now can safely categorise him similar to Ed McG where if he has the right inker and colorist and right project, the work can actually be entertaining

And in this volume, we see the return of the original X-Men

Yup for those not in the know, this is not a slotting in between past issues kind of project but the actual teen heroes who failed to sustain the first round of X-Men comics coming back once more and in the present run of the X-tales

Background recap time: basically after all the horror of the Phoenix Five where many things were destroyed and the whole world nearly destroyed with the adult Cyclops openly unrepentant and even broke out of prison, the Beast, decided to make a time-jump into the past to bring the younger kids into the future hoping that meeting his younger self would jolt Cyclops back to his senses. He theorises that the kids would not remember this meeting because if all goes well and he sends them back to their own time, Prof X would wipe this from their minds (Huh?)

So that's the gist of it. As this is a normal length opening issue, there is already a lot going on here but what I found really cool is the fact that writer Bendis injects so much more personality into these youthful X-Men. Naturally we see Scott as being a bit uptight but still noble. What is refreshing is that Bobby actually looks younger and is annoying more fun than the Torch and Spidey while Warren is equally capable of a laugh or too!

Awesome!

Ratings: 7/10

2.129 (494) Daredevil vol 1 #163 ... Marvel ...

Moving forward a couple of issues and the storyline is much improved. At first, when you see the cover, you will be asking yourself what is the point ... after all, we are talking the Hulk ... and this is the actual point of the story and that made if really emotional

We open with DD attending an event as lawyer Matt Murdoch. However, with his life not exactly thriving on both professional and social front, unfortunately, his senses detecting the presence of the Hulk did not help matters as he snuck away at the first opportunity to present itself and to his credit, he initially did SPOILER ALERT something unbelievable i.e. by calming the Hulk down until he reverted back to Bruce

However, if this is all there is, the story would not be so much a super hero tale without any slam bang action. So now comes the real letdown in the tale similar to our last review. Here is the sense that the writer didn't understand the motivation for the Hulk. Because he needed Bruce to hulk out, he allowed every tiny little bit of uncomfortable situation to stress Banner until he hulked out. I mean come on. He was well, he was happy, he had been fed and clothed and now leaving New York like a normal human being. And the process of departing and encountering fellow New Yorkers was so tough that he hulked out?!!?!?!?! Come on! Millions of people go through rush hour without their stress levels hitting the roof!

Anyway, thank goodness that is not the end. Because our friend Murdoch once more senses the Hulk and tries to calm him down but this time, owing to his rage, the Hulk actually hurts DD before realizing what he has done to the only person who gave him an open hand! Yes, the Hulk whacked DD one and left him in critical condition by the last page of this issue. Like I said thank goodness for this bit where more common sense crept in

Ratings: 6/10

2.128 (493) Daredevil vol 1 #161 ... Marvel ...

Like every title in Marvel over the past 10 years, poor Daredevil was not spared the re-launch business. In fact, the past 10 years was weird especially when both writer and artist were the same and within a couple to three years, they re-launched the title yet again. Ah well ... when lost ... stick to the old tricks eh?

Anyway, this is a throwback to the days of Frank Miller and Klaus Janson as both were coming into their own before Miller had his super signature style but here, you can already see the awesome angles and perspectives of his character's moves

Just check out that cover!

Anyway, this issue is a culmination of the past year or so's worth with Bullseye seeking revenge for his defeat by DD. To sum it up, he decided that he needed to study DD's moves to better defeat our blind hero. Hence he engaged hired guns to bait DD and tried to snuff the Devil, all of whom failed as expected

To up the ante, he even sought out those nearest and dearest to DD ie Black Widow who at that point in DD's history was his love and captured her. So after a long running scene of DD tracking him, finally the confrontation SPOILER ALERT and while I loved the action scenes, I think this is one of those rare instances where more pages should have been utilized because towards the end, the fight is short and Bullseye apparently loses his nerves thinking DD is simply un-defeatable ?!?!?! WTF?!?!??!

Ratings: 6/10