Short comic reviews based on initial, lizard-brain opinions. Arranged from BEST to WORST.There are probably some minor SPOILERS herein.
Captain Britain and MI13 #4 gets an A from Albo
My good friend Hunter told me last week that Captain Britain and MI13 was the best comic Marvel was currently publishing. Never one to turn down a strongly-worded recommendation, I bought all four issues of the series today and that old sumbitch might be right. It may just be because I'm getting so sick of Bendis' Secret Invasion books, and yet this series uses the mega event as its jumping off point and somehow manages to stay grounded enough to get some good character work done. This four issue intro just wrapped up, I can't wait to see where the book takes us in a post-Skrull universe (oh, did I mention? The British have already dealt with their Skrull invasion.)
Reviews for Young Liars #6, Welcome to Hoxford #1, Universal War One Book 2 and Secret Invasion #5 after the jump.
Young Liars #6 gets an A from Albo
Ah, David Lapham, how did I ever doubt you? Yeah, many of the issues of this series have been miserable reads, but you've really picked it up here. This issue and the last one are filled with some incredibly shocking scenes. In a storytelling medium where the biggest threat (*cough*World War Hulk*cough*Secret Invasion*cough*) can be handled with a fistfight and zero serious consequences, it's a real treat seeing main characters go through severe, non-reversible, life-changing shit. Like, uh... Beheading. Last issue was castration. Where can they go from here?
Welcome to Hoxford #1 gets a B from Albo
I didn't get too much out of this issue. It's certainly not bad, the art is suitably creepy for a Ben Templesmith horror book and the writing is solid, I think I just have to see where it's going to really decide if I like the world the book is set in. So I guess what I'm saying is, stay tuned. But hey, if you like dark stories about prisoners getting (SPOILER) eaten alive, jump right in!
Universal War One Book 2 gets a C from Albo
I'm probably being a bit too harsh on this one. As far as spacey sci-fi comics go, it's better than most. There's even something exotic about the whole package because it's a French import. But really, despite the good art and the above average panel to panel writing, the pacing of the whole shebang is really screwy. Add to that the fact that after two looong issues I'm still not sure what I'm really supposed to be caring about and you've got yourself a C book in Albo's... book. Though a planet getting cut in half is admittedly pretty darn cool.
Secret Invasion #5 gets a D from Albo
Every time I attend or watch online a Marvel panel at a comic convention, someone inevitably gets on the mic and asks the question: "Why do you guys keep doing these big events that nobody really likes?" And Marvel's answer is always the same: "You keep buying them." It's a very honest answer, but it's also kind of a slap in the face. We buy them because they've told us the event is the most important thing going on in the universe and we're afraid that if we don't follow the books we'll be out of the loop. I haven't liked Secret Invasion since issue one, but here I am telling you what I think about the latest issue I bought. But I swear to you, right here and now, I will not buy another issue of this series. Why? Because nothing happens. Nothing. We're still where we were at the end of issue one. The characters are so secondary to the whole thing that they might as well be G.I Joes or the Scooby Doo crew and it wouldn't affect the story. Full disclosure, I'm still going to read these things in the store. But I swear I will not contribute to "you keep buying them" any more.
1 comment:
Albo, that's the best review of the issue and of Secret Invasion as a whole I have read so far. I seriously have to stop and scratch my head when I see above average ratings at the big comic blogs. I think Bendis is actually at his worst with this series, not only are there practically no advancements after four issues it also reads as if it was a first draft that didnt pass through editing.
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