Tuesday, April 01, 2014

Comic reviews

I'm a little behind.  Well, I'm about 3 weeks behind I think.  This will be a rapid run through.

Spoilers ahead for Hawkeye 17, Revival 18, She-Hulk 2, Sex Criminals 5, Harley Quinn 4, X-Men 12, Hawkeye 18, Supergirl 29, Red Lanterns 29, Larfleeze 9, Wonder Woman 29, Adventures of Superman 11, Forever Evil: Rogues Rebellion 6.



Hawkeye 17
This came out really soon after 16 and I was quite apprehensive about reading it, given the trauma from the last issue.  It turned out to be the Christmas issue.  It was fun, but I do just want to find out what's going to happen next with Clint.


Revival 18
I feel like the last few issues have lost momentum somewhat.  I'll be cancelling this soon and I don't think I'll be too upset about it.  The cover is pretty gross on this one.  Or it was until the story revealed that the cover dude is a burns victim.  Then it's not gross it's more touching.




She-Hulk 2
This is just as much fun as issue 1 was.  This series is going to be held in very high regard one day.  If you want to step into comics I would recommend you start with this She-Hulk series.

So that's the comics from 3 weeks ago out of the way.  Here's what I picked up last week:
So many comics.  OK, here we go.

Sex Criminals 5
The letters pages weren't as good as previous issues.  But the comic itself was great.  I particularly adore the colours used when Suze and Jon are in the quiet.  The kegelface panel deserves a special mention and I think I might tweet 'kegelface' every time I do my kegels now.  In amongst the sheer delight of reading such a filthy book I am struck by the intelligence and maturity of it.  The way we see Suze and Jon get to know each other, the story telling mechanisms and the respect the creators have for their readership amazes me.  If only all comics had the same integrity.


Harley Quinn 4
Harley goes to work and fails to read the files.  Misunderstanding ensues.  This is a wonderfully fun comic.  Cheeky and vibrant.

X-Men 12
I just worked out why I like this comic so much!  It passes the Bechdel test with flying colours.  Oh if only this wasn't so rare.

Hawkeye 18
This is a Kate issue.  If I've understood it right it's tying the Kate and Clint issues together and next issue will see Kate getting back to Clint in New York.  Or trying to.  I cannot wait for next issue!

Supergirl 29
Kara is a Red Lantern and fighting her friend Siobhan, the Silver Banshee.  We get some good flashbacks to when Kara and Siobhan were roommates and it was reminiscent of some of the pre 52 issues that built up Kara's life and supporting cast.  I'd like more of this please.


Red Lanterns 29
More Red Kara.  You know what, I cannot help but compare this to the Supergirl issue and this is just much better written.  The characterisation (of everyone) seems effortless and there seems to be so much more important stuff going on in it.  Everything in there has a point and it flows effortlessly.  In comparison, Supergirl 29 just seems clunky and slow.

I really liked Guy Gardner in this.  He's flawed, he's not necessarily trying his best - he'd probably think that's a wanky thing to say - he just gets on with the job and does what he reckons to be the right thing.   I even liked Superman in this.  He decides that he'll be hands off with Kara and leave her to work out what and who she wants to be.  He recognises that she doesn't need or want a role model.  I think it's a respectful way to conduct his relationship with her.  It's the polar opposite of his approach in Superman/Supergirl: Maelstrom.  I hated him in that.

Back to this issue, I still can't work out why New 52 Superman commands anyone's respect.  He is not a friendly, trustworthy ot charismatic individual.

So. I can't quite believe I'm going to say this... if you want to read a Supergirl story pick up Red Lanterns, not Supergirl.

Larfleeze 9
Larfleeze nearly destroys the the whole Tuath-Dan and then bloody G'norrt turns up.  Bloody G'norrt.  I hate G'Norrt.

Wonder Woman 29
Oh my gosh! The Amazons are back!  Oh I have been waiting for this!

Adventures of Superman 11
I think this book is destined to make me well up every month.  It's a Death of Krypton story. It's got self sacrifice.  It's got a confused and self loathing Green Lantern who ultimately experiences forgiveness and becomes a hero again.

Forever Evil: Rogues Rebellion 6
This was a lovely end to the mini series.  Glider comes back.  We get more Pied Piper.  The Rogues win.  It's a mostly happy ending.  More of this please!

1 comment:

SallyP said...

Strange how the Superman in Adventures, is SO much better than the new 52 Superman.

And yes, Supergirl is actually tolerable in Red Lanterns. I'm developing a crush on Zilius Zox. He's hilarious!

Speaking of hilarious...She-Hulk is one of my new favorite books.

Hawkeye is still pretty good, but it has been all over the place lately. Still...there are a lot of worse books to read.