The Bill June 2, 2010

I've decided it's time to add my voice to the chorus of reviewers out there with a weekly review feature. So welcome to The Bill (get it?), where i'll showcase the best and worst of the what I bought this week. Excited? You will be.



The Best

Hawkeye and Mockingbird #1
Writer: Jim McCann
Artist: David Lopez

I wish every first issue was like this one. It starts with a fun action sequence that leads into a larger mystery while establishing the setup of the book. It seems so easy, yet so many have problems figuring this out (I'm looking at you Bendis!).

I'll be real honest with you, I kinda have a hidden passion for Hawkeye. Not in everything (like that 2005 miniseries of his or his recent stint with the New Avengers), but generally when he's in a fun solo book I'm totally on board.

The book reminds me a lot of Solo Avengers, where no time was wasted getting to the action. Picking up from where the New Avengers Reunion miniseries ended, Hawk and Mock takes the marching orders of Low-angst/High-action and runs with it, setting up enough intrigue to keep me coming back.

It's really just great, old-school fun and you should totally check it out.



The Worst

Vengeance of Moon Knight # 9
Writer: Gregg Hurwitz
Artist: Juan Jose Ryp

Speaking of old-school, Moon Knight # 9 is an example of an old-school fill-in (Clever segue, right?). In this issue Moony runs into Spidey (literally) and together they work to take down the Sandman, who is giant for no apparent reason. It's not a bad tale, it just comes off as very generic.

Moon Knight is a weird book for me, I buy it but I'm not sure why. The series started strong with the man swinging back into action and fighting off the crazy, but as the series has progressed I'm struck by the somewhat sloppy storytelling and just general lack of "umph" from the book. There's nothing that really pops when I read it. Which is bad, especially when I'm spending four bucks on it.

Only check this one out if your some kind of completist, be it Moony, Spidey, or Sandy. Otherwise you can let this one slip past and never miss it.



And there it is. I'm gonna try to make this a regular thing, probably on Wednesdays unless I cant make it to the store that day. If you want to know anything more about these two books, or think I totally missed out on something amazing this week, let me know in the comments.