The Bill May 18, 2011

You remember last week when I was all sad because I had no new books that came out? Well it seems that the comic gods wanted to right that mistake by raining down a metric butt-ton of books upon me this week. What's more, they were all generally pretty good! Dammit, what am I supposed to write about if I like everything? I feel like I should turn in my blogger card....

Unless, of course, we keep this as our little secret. Come an indulge me this week, I promise all kinds of snark next week*.




Written Just For Me:

Fear Itself: Youth in Revolt # 1
Writer: Sean McKeever
Artist: Mike Norton



Okay, so technically this came out last week, but I missed it so I'm just going to pretend it came out this week. Besides, with a cast like this - Prodigy, Gravity, Stunt Master - , I can't not write about this one. Plus it's written by Sean McKeever, who's been nothing but awesome in his return to Marvel (even if his one big book was cancelled).

This issue follows the fallen, occasionally drunken leader of The Slingers (Marvel's most underrated superteam!), Prodigy, as he's tasked with creating a giant team of young heroes to help quell the rising fear from... well, Fear Itself. It's fun, in that kind of "Oh right, we have heroes other than Spider-Man and Iron Man to handle all these giant battles" kind of way.

But really, anything that brings more Slingers-tinged, Gravity-involving action is welcome to my addiction. I can only hope this spurs a new team book in six months starring at least those two.

And that hopefully it'll last longer than five months...




Now With Extra Pulp:

Rocketeer Adventures # 1
Writer: John Cassaday, Mike Allred, Kurt Busiek
Artist: John Cassaday, Mike Allred, Michael Kaluta



Just going to prove that I don't ALWAYS buy Marvel, I picked up this charming anthology from IDW today and couldn't be happier with it. Like most people (I suspect) my introduction to The Rocketeer came with the movie and didn't go much farther than that. However, there is something about a guy in a jet pack fighting nazis that's impossible to not like.

Anyway, enter this book, and it's fantastic short adventures featuring everyone's favorite rocket propelled pulp hero. It's fast, funny, and heartfelt with enough action that it never lets you down. The kind of stories that you always want your pulp heroes to inhabit.

My personal favorite was the John Cassaday story to kick off the book, if only because it had the most action per capita, also the most John Cassaday art per capita. Fun times all around, you should totes check it out!




Okay, enough gushing! I promise I'll try harder to be snarkier next week and be extra mean with everything.* Until then!


*This may or may not be true

The Bill March 9, 2011

My pull list seemed like something straight out of the 90s this week. I got one featuring everyone's favorite lethal protector, another with the pinnacle of 90s X-Men excess (or should I say, X-cess... sigh. No. No I shouldn't. Sorry), and finally a heavy dose of a brooding purple bowsman. Thank god I didn't get that Deathlok Weapon X trade, I might have fainted from all the radical-ness.

Regardless, seeing as how I'm conscious on a Wednesday night, let's check out what I thought of a few of these in this week's I-swear-it's-going-to-be-renamed-at-some-point The Bill.




Why Aren't You Better?:

Onslaught Unleashed # 2
Writer: Sean Mckeever
Artist: Filipe Andrade


I really really want to like this book, but there's just something about it that's not clicking. It could be the weird, spindly art of Filipe Andrade, but I much prefer it's fluid action-y flavor to the more standard fare by David Baldeon. It might be the characters, but I honestly love the vast majority of the major players. In all honesty though, it might just be a converange of uninteresting and otherwise convoluted ideas that are crammed within it's pages.

To say I was less than interested in the mcguffin that got all the heroes to this secluded location is putting it mildly at best. The story of Toro, his history as a child assassin and subsequent drug testing, doesn't light any fires for me. And it doesn't really help that his story feels incredibly tacked on to this larger, and mildly more interesting, story of Onslaught. I really enjoy McKeever as a writer most of the time, but this is one story of his I can't wait for him to get out of his system.

Meanwhile, there's this whole Onslaught thing that I'm not sure how to feel about. On the one hand, the nostalgic part of me is happy to see him getting a decent, non-Liefeld push. On the other, I can't help but think that he's totally unnecessary and utterly uninteresting. It's two issues in and the only thing I can glean about his master plan is that it involves ruling the world via the help of young South American boys.

More, I worry that they're going to ruin an already very fragile character in Rikki Barnes. I was fairly skeptical when they announced her first miniseries, but since then I've really become a fan. That said, I like her the best when they just kind of ignore her awfully confusing and overly involved origin. Anytime I have to have to take a deep breath and start with a "well, first of all...", I know in my heart that it's a character that won't be for anyone. I worry that they're making Rikki all murky continuity, and not the great complex character she truly is.

If this were any other book I'd totally drop it, but seeing as how it's A- written by Sean McKeever, B- stars Gravity, and C- is a four issue mini-series, I guess I'll stick around.

Here's hoping things get more interesting next issue.




Better Than It Has Any Right To Be:

Venom # 1
Writer: Rick Remender
Artist: Tony Moore


Back when this book was first announced, I shrugged it off as nothing. Just another attempt to make Venom interesting while reverting to the status quo (for the record, I really liked Mac Gargan as Venom, but whatevs) I told myself. And then I saw the creative team; the very same that was behind my beloved FrankenCastle. This book quickly became an instant buy.

And boy, am I glad I picked it up.

There's something about the Remender/Moore team up that seems to bring out the best in each of them. They're like a real life Power Man and Iron Fist; you know, perfectly complimentary to the other's style and able to push the other's talent to the limit. In case you couldn't tell, I liked Venom a lot.

Changing the character from a villain with a moral compass (or just a criminal out of his element as it was with Gargan) to a black-ops government operative is a fantastically fresh take on this long in the tooth (or tongue! Am I right? ...sorry, I don't know what's gotten into me tonight) somewhat stale character. I'm totally digging the idea of Flash Thompson doing his best Spider-Man impression (which I totally called, by the by) while having control issues with his 'other'.

In addition to this new (and hopefully not short-lived) take on everyone's favorite symbiote, they also do a number on Jack O'Lantern and made him interesting for the first time ever. Between this and the kind of awesome Hobgoblin revamp, these second string, Green Goblin wanna-bes are really coming into their own this year. I'm incredibly intrigued by this new Halloween-themed Jack and can't wait to see him and his broom glider again in the near future. Quality stuff that I really hopes sticks around.

In any case, I'm really stoked about this book. I don't know where it's going, what to expect, or even how long it'll last; all I know is that if they keep up this level of fun and energy, I'll be there for the whole thing.

Unless, you know, it gets REALLY shitty. Like REEEEAAAAALLLLLYYYYY shitty. And I'm sure it won't.




Wow. I sure was in a reviewing mood tonight, huh? Well, I'm gonna call it a night right here, but if you want to hear me rant about Hawkeye Blindspot, or call me out for not buying that new Skullkickers trade, please drop me a comment and I'll try to abide. Till next time...

The Bill Feburary 9, 2011

After a week off, basking in the glow of the early 90s, I guess we ought to get back to the business of reviewing new books.... If we have too....

Good thing only awesome things came out this week, otherwise I'd be one sad panda. Let's see what we got.



Hey, Weren't You Cancelled?

Onslaught Unleashed #1
Writer: Sean McKeever
Artist: Filipe Andrade


Well, well, lookie what we have here: The return of my favorite failed non-team of 2010, The Young Allies. Not a bad push for a team that couldn't quite make it out of that first arc...

Anyway, here they team up with The Secret Avengers to fight off the returning 90s icon, Onslaught. Or at least they will, at some point in the series. Probably.

While it's great to see the team back in action (really anytime I get some Gravity in my life is a good time), this book doesn't really do much for me. The interactions are great, the art is awesome (if a bit funky), but the story is very thin. Well not so much thin, as unnecessarily mysterious.

Frankly, if you put the name of the villain on the front of the book, you can't use him as the big surprise threat at the end of it. Only if I was reading this book without a cover or a title page, would the 'surprise' at the end be one. As it is, I feel like I should have just started with issue two.

The flying datsun was pretty cool though...



The Best Of The Year (so far):

Power Man and Iron Fist #1
Writer: Fred Van Lente
Artist: Wellington Alves


I don't talk about it as much as I should, but the original Power Man and Iron Fist is one of my favorite series of all time. I don't know what it is exactly, all I know is that it's awesome. So when it was announced that not only was there going to be a new Power Man, but a new Power Man and Iron Fist series, I was a little worried that it wouldn't live up to it's predecessor. And then I saw that Fred Van Lente was writing. And then he did this:



Dammit, Fred, why do you have to be so awesome all the time?

So yeah, and then as if it's not enough to have my sensational character find of 2010 show up, the book gets even better through fantastic character interactions, use of Power Man and Iron Fist Original Recipe continuity, and amazing art from Mr. Alves. It truly makes the legacy proud.

Now, if only we could make this an ongoing instead of just a miniseries. Anyone got any bright ideas on how to make that happen?



And so ends the spirited review part of the evening. If you'd like to hear more about my 'meh' attitudes on both Widowmaker #4 and Secret Warriors #24, just drop me a line in the comments and I'm sure I can rally some snide remarks for you.

Until then, I'm off to try to read something other than horrible 90s books for a change....

Who am I kidding? Pass the Darkhawk, please.

The Bill November 3, 2010

It's a sad week when one of my books gets cancelled. Let alone two. Sigh. Why must you take away the things I love so much, Marvel?

Well, least we can do is send them off right. Right? Let's do this.




Cancelled With a Chance:

Hawkeye and Mockingbird #6
Writer: Jim McCann
Artist: David Lopez


I'm beginning to think that Hawkeye just can't hold down a series. Poor guy just can't quite get over that hump to the big time. It's weird too, because he's totally awesome, or at least he should be.

Anyway, so this issue deals with the fallout of the previous five issues. Hawkeye is riddled with guilt about poking out Crossfire's eye, Mockingbird deals with her life decisions, and Dominic Fortune reveals his true origin (which is shockingly similar to The TaskMaster origin that was also revealed this week).

Lots of story happening in these pages (as usual), but alas it's for naught because this is the final issue of Hawk and Mock... for now.

It seems that the planned crossover with The Black Widow will now become it's own miniseries followed by something. They haven't quite announced what it is, but the promise is that the story here is far from finished.

And boy do I hope that they give Hawkeye another chance. McCann's really got a handle on the character and a fantastic old-school flair, it'd be a shame if this is the last we saw of his Hawkeye.

Mockingbird, on the other hand, I don't mind if she drifts back into limbo.




Cancelled Forever:

Young Allies #6
Writer: Sean Mckeever
Artist: David Baldeon


I knew this was going to happen. All of my favorites in one book? Im surprised it lasted this long.

It wasn't a perfect book, but it was getting there. It was an interesting mix of characters with some fantastic creators that just didn't get a chance to figure out what the book wanted to be.

In this issue, if it matters, we follow Angelica Jones, Firestar, as she deals with her return to superheroics. And it's a great issue, one of those that McKeever excels with, even though, in the end, it's not really a satisfying end to the series.

I think the problem with this book is that it was marketed as a team book, but rallied against the idea within its pages. It was interesting, just not what I expected. I wanted something that was more early "New Warriors" instead of "The Defenders". But that's just me.

From here it looks like the Young Allies will fall by the wayside along with The Slingers, Force Works, and all those other teams from the 90s you can't remember.

It's not all lost though. The Nomad backups will still run through Captain America, which is great. There's an upcoming crossover with the Avengers Academy and Spider-Girl, which will be a nice capper. And I'm going to guess that the new Onslaught one shot in 2011, also written by McKeever, will feature the Young Allies.

Just a hunch.

The most important question remains: What about Gravity? The poor kid is way too great to be tossed around the way he has in the Marvel U during his short heroic life. That kid needs a miniseries (at least!) written by McKeever, STAT. Make it happen, Marvel.



That's all I got for this sad edition. If you want to know about the other books I bought that aren't being cancelled this week, drop a comment and ask, or stop by my twitter feed. I think I'm going to start posting short reviews for the books that I don't give a full review to here.

Hooray for social media!

The Bill September 9, 2010

I don't know what happened this week, but I only had one book come out. It was okay though because the store I went to last week didn't have all the books I wanted, so I was able to make the trip worth my while.

That said, I'm gonna change up the format this week. Come on, let's see what happens...




Best Anthology in a While:
I Am an Avenger #1
Writers: Jim McCann, Duane Swierczynski, Alex Zalben, Chris Eliopoulos
Artists: Chris Samnee, Jason Latour, Tom Fowler, Chris Eliopoulos


When I was bitching about the Age of Heroes anthology weeks ago, this is what I was I wanted that book to be. The stories were meaningful, pointed, and just generally good. Sure, the Pet Avengers and Squirrel Girl stories didn't need to be in there, but the other two totally made up for them.

The first was a fantastic Young Avengers story by Jim McCann (of Hawk and Mock fame) and Chris Samnee (of Thor the Mighty Avenger fame) in which the team gets officially inducted into the ranks of the World's Greatest Heroes. Not only do we get some great interplay, but it also gives us a bit of continuity clean up regarding who gets to keep the name Hawkeye (Spoilers: They both do).

The story was seriously great, and makes me yearn for a YA series written by McCann. He'd be the perfect fit, as he tends to balance that old school adventure feel with great character interaction; a must when it comes to the Young Avengers. Here's hoping he gets the chance once Heinberg is through.

On the opposite side of the emotional scale is Dwayne Swierczynski and Jason Latour's defacto epilogue to The Immortal Iron Fist. As a quick aside, I don't talk about that series nearly enough. I don't know what it is, but those books inspire me and not just the Fraction/Brubaker stuff, as the book really got interesting when Swierczynski came on.

Anyway, the Iron Fist story deals with the unfortunate fallout of Misty Knight's pregnancy. In summary, it didn't go well, so Danny and Misty are taking a break. It was a very touching, personal story that I'm really glad to see, even if it was painful to read.

I'm tentatively considering getting the next issue in this series. I'll keep you posted if I do.




Most LIkely to Get Cancelled:
Young Allies # 4
Writer: Sean McKeever
Artist: David Baldeon


I really really love this book. The characters, the setup, the writing, the art; everything. Unfortunately, that means this book is not long for this world.

It's a pretty solid fact that when I like a book, it gets canceled (See FrankenCastle, but you knew that) and this one isn't going to buck the trend. It's no one's fault, really, it just doesn't have anything in it to jazz up the casual fan.

The character selection is totally off beat and full of characters with potential, but no one that really jumps out. I know Nomad is getting a push in the Captain America books, as is Arana in Spider-Man, but I don't think that's equating into readers. Or at least, not enough. I read it for Gravity (on of the best characters of the 2000s!), but I know he's not the headliner he should be.

As for the story, it's really clever but it lacks resonance because it's not referenced anywhere else in the Marvel U. These new villains showed up and blew up a chunk of Manhattan, but you'd never know if you weren't reading this book. It's a bad sign.

I really want everyone to check out this book. Give it a whirl, I promise you won't be upset. Its got fun lines, great characterization, interesting villains, everything you need for a great book.

Please don't let this one be cancelled. Marvel is already taking FrankenCastle away from me, I don't think I could bear them taking another fun title away....




And on that dour note, I'm off. For the record, the other book I bought tonight was Thor Mighty Avenger #4 which featured a great night drinking with the Warriors Three. Fun stuff and still the best Thor book I've ever read. I'm going to suggest it to everyone before the movie comes out.

The Bill June 15, 2010

Ugh. Disappointing weeks are disappointing. I only bought two books this week and, spoilers, I'm having a hard time choosing which one is the worst. Let's see what happens with my reviews:



Least Disappointing of the Week:

Lockjaw and The Pet Avengers Unleashed # 4
Writer: Chris Eliopoulos
Artist: Ig Guara


Why Pet Avengers? I love you so much, why do you have to do this to me? I'm trying to sing your praises to anyone who will listen and this is how you repay me: with a sub-par finale to a sub-par mini series.

I really, REALLY want this to be good, but it just isn't; it's lacking the magic of that first book. The fun character interplay is gone, the gender-confused Ms. Lion gets way too much panel time, and Throg went from being the emotional center of the team to generic leader type (not to mention that they changed his name from the awesome THROG to the significantly less awesome Frog Thor). I don't know what to say.

The theme of the series was finding one's place in the world, which is great, but they don't set it up at all, aside from Throg. Throg, who's journey we should be focused on, is tossed to the side as we are introduced to the last-minute villain (a little girl) and a hastily tacked on love plot between a Yeti and a Unicorn. While each plotline is about finding oneself and their place in the world, we never feel that moment of realization from anyone because no one is given the time to make that decision on panel.

It was all just kinda... underwhelming.




Most Disappointing of the Week:

Age of Heroes # 2
Writer: Various
Artist: Various


Ugh. Where to start with this thing? So much potential; So much unfulfilled promise.

The book's divided into four stories, two long and two very very short. We get long ones on Gravity (one of my favs) and American Son (ugh), while two short ones on the Young Masters (From the latest Young Avengers mini) and Gauntlet (from Avengers: Initiative). Of the four of them, I was greatly interested in three of them. I'll let you guess which one I didn't care about.

So what sucked about it?

First off the Gravity story, which was supposed to fill in the gap between Avengers: Initiative and Young Allies, was a whole lot of nothing. Here's a guy that has been a victim of circumstance.

His first miniseries is VASTLY under-rated and totally awesome, setting him up to be the Spier-Man for the 2000s in the 616. His next big appearance in the Beyond miniseries, had him showcase what made him so awesome; also it killed him. He came back from the dead during Dwayne McDuffie's Fantastic Four run, and then promptly joined an Initiative team in Nevada when he returned to Earth. The last we saw him, he had been transfered back to his home state of Wisconsin to serve with the Great Lake Avengers, much to his chagrin.

Alright, so background aside, what I wanted from this story is HOW he re-integrated himself back into New York and his life there. People knew he died. People knew he came back. Somehow his identity and all that was erased magically.

What? When? How? Why?

Instead of these answers, we get a story of Gravity deciding he should still be Gravity after he accidentally gets two kids killed during a villain fight. It was just... so not what I wanted to read about.

The Gauntlet and Young Masters stories were even worse. Here are some characters that were introduced and are in great big danger of falling into to limbo. I wanted a great send off for them. Where are they? What're they doing? What's their status quo? Instead we see Gauntlet in Afghanistan congratulating the soliders there for being real heroes (nothing wrong with that sentiment, just not the right place for it), while the Young Masters sit around wondering if they're good or evil. I.. what?!?!

If you can't tell, it was all very frustrating.




And that's all I got this week. All I got that was new anyway. I picked up The List: Wolverine for a dollar and it was AMAZING. Thank god for Jason Aaron and his crazy ideas, otherwise I'd be really upset this week.

Give me a glimmer of hope, how was your week?

My New Favorite Marvel Book

What do you get when you combine one of my favorite characters, one of my guilty pleasure characters, and one of the finest creators out there? Young Allies, Marvel's newest ongoing, that's what.



Starting in June, Sean Mckeever and David Baldeon break ground on a series starring my favorite Nomad Rikki Barnes (Sorry, Jack Monroe!), Arana (bleh!), Firestar (fresh from retirement AND beating cancer!), the token new guy, and one of my personal favorite heroes, Gravity. Here's hoping the series can last more than six issues...

Pessimism aside, I can't help to wonder two things:

1- Will McKeever be able to bring Gravity back to his former glory? Here's a character that had such a promising beginning, only to see it squandered as other writers pushed the character in directions that just weren't right. Last I saw, the Wisconsin native who moved to NYC so he could be a big-time superhero was bounced around in The Initiative and ended up back in Wisconsin as a part of the GLA (or GLX or GLI, depending). I'm hoping McKeever can right poor Gravity's path to greatness.

2- With all the Avenger announcements of late, why not put this creative team on a Young Avengers book. Talk about a team that's aching for a book. Don't get me wrong, I'm all about these Young Allies, but I can't help to wonder how much more attention (and sales!) the book would get with 'Avengers' in the title.

For the record, that second point is cynicism, not pessimism. I hope you're as excited about this one as I am.

An Ode To Rhino

Alas, poor Rhino



He can't seem to beat Spider-Man.

If only he could fight someone a little less experienced, like the 90s Green Goblin!



Alas, poor Rhino.



Maybe he should just stay on the ground.



If only he could fight someone a little less airborne, like Gravity!



Alas, poor Rhino.



Maybe he should think before rushing in head first.



If only he was a little smarter, then he'd know what to do.



Alas, poor Rhino.



Now you know how futile it all is.

Alas poor Rhino.