The Bill June 9, 2010

Hey hey, would you look at that, it's Wednesday already. You know what that means: It's time for your new favorite comic reviews: The Bill!



Best of the Week:

Young Allies #1
Writer: Sean McKeever
Artist: David Baldeon



My best book of the week hits almost all of my soft spots, making it a shoe-in. Five obscure teen (or teen-ish in Firestar's case) heroes having fun, enjoying they're chosen lot in life, and talking like teens do. It's like poetry in motion. Or, you know, something like that. But, I'm totally in the tank for Sean McKeever, so I might be a bit biased.

Young Allies #1 is a gathering issue. All the heroes show up, the villains do something dasterdly, and we get a sense that it's all going somewhere, but the team doesn't actually officially join up in this issue. It's okay though, because we still get plenty of 'get-to-know-your-heroes' action in that fun, conversational way that McKeever excels at.



As great as I think this series will be, sadly don't see it lasting very long. Alas, I think this one will go down with Slingers, The Order, and all those other obscure hero teams, with a strong, but small fanbase for it's six to twelve issue run.

Sigh. Prove me wrong on this one people!

Worst of the Week:

SHIELD # 2
Writer: Jonathan Hickman
Artist: Dustin Weaver


So it's not that this issue is bad, it's got a lot of imagination, great character designs, fantastic art; it's just not doing anything for me. As I sat down to read it, I couldn't help to think that it might have been a better story if it existed outside the Marvel Universe as an independent book.

The idea of a secret society of world protectors dating back to the Egyptian times is an awesome one, I just keep trying to make it fit into the Marvel U proper. It's totally a 'me' problem, but it takes me out of the story and I'm unable to really engage.



I realize I'm in the vast minority here, and my cred as a comics blogger will be hurt by this, but I don't care: I just can't get into SHIELD. Best of luck Leonardo, you'll have to make the rest of your journey without me.


BONUS:
Avengers Academy #1 (Gage/Mckone) was totally great! I wasn't quite sure when it started, but the twist at the end was fantastic. It'll be interesting to see where it goes. It reads like what I wanted Avengers Initiative read: It's interesting, intriguing, and all the characters in it don't feel like their selling out to be a part of the machine (I'm looking at you Cloud 9!).




And that's all I got for you this week. Suggestions, comments, compliments, or complaints, let me know in the comments. One last question for you: Heralds. Is it worth it?