Bi-weekly spotlight on comics

Hello everyone.  I know I’ve been gone for a while, but I’m back with more comic reviews for all you fellow nerds out there.  I normally pick up my comics on a by-weekly basis, so that’s how often I will be post ing these reviews.  Now without further ado, let’s take a look at what made it into my long box over the last few weeks.

As I have mentioned in a previous post (surely you’ve been reading all of them right?) Marvel is in the process of rolling out new number one issues of nearly all their comics, complete with a re-shuffled lineup of artists and writers. Marvel Now, as it is called, is envisioned as a way for new readers to have a jumping off point. These new number one issues are slowly rolling out over the next few months, and this week we will be taking a look at two of them, Iron Man and Deadpool, as well as a few other titles.

Iron Man issue #1

 

I have very mixed feeling about this comic. Overall, I felt a little disappointed with it. Let’s start with the artwork. Greg land is handling the pencils for this run. When there is action in the book, or when Tony Stark is in wearing the Iron Man suit, the artwork looks amazing. These scenes look like they are straight out of the Iron Man films. Here is an example….                                        

 

But when Land is drawing people, I feel like the quality dips tremendously.  Lands Stark, looks as though he is of Asian descent, and if that’s not strange enough, nearly every character in the book has a creepy smile on their face the majority of the time. Again, some examples….

 

 

There is no doubt that Land is very talented, there is a photo realistic quality to his work. But the facial expressions in this issue were very distracting to me.

So we’ve talked about the artwork, but what about the story? Kieron Gillen is the new writer for this series. I didn’t find the story in this first issue very compelling. I found Gillen’s Iron Man to be somewhat detached and even a little boring, a far cry from the Tony Stark were used to seeing light up the silver screen. I’m not expecting the comic book version of Iron Man to be a carbon copy of the film's, I was just hoping he would at least be as interesting.

I am more than willing to read a couple more issues and give this new creative team time to find their legs. I only hoped this new era of Iron Man would begin with a bigger bang, as this was one my most anticipated issues of the year.

 

Deadpool #1

 

 

Deadpool more than made up for all the disappointment I felt in Iron Man #1. Simply put, this was the most fun I have had reading a comic in quite some time. I recently became a fan of Deadpool while reading one of my favorite comics Avenging Spider-Man. (more on that later) Avenging is a Spidey team-up book, and the last few issues featured a hilarious story arc featuring none other than Deadpool himself!  I enjoyed those issues so much, that couldn’t resist the opportunity to begin reading Deadpool on a regular basis, beginning with the fresh start that Marvel Now could bring.

For those of you who are not familiar with Deadpool , he is crass, violent, comical, and crazy. The comics that feature Deadpool normally contain stories that are pretty far out there, and this new run is no exception.  Issue one begins a story arc that finds Deadpool hired by S.H.I.E.L.D. to take down resurrected deceased Presidents of the United States. Trust me, It’s as crazy as it sounds, and definitely unique.

This comic featured great writing by comedians Brian Posehn and Gerry Duggan. They had me laughing out loud on every page, and It’s refreshing to read a comic that doesn’t take itself too seriously. The artwork was equally impressive with the pencils provided by The Walking Dead co-creator Tony Moore.  The book looks amazing, and the level of detail put into of the panels was spectacular. I also want to give a rare shout out to an inker. Thanks to Val Staples, the colors really pop in Deadpool #1 and are another reason I enjoyed the artwork so much. They really help set the fun and wacky tone that will have me coming back to this comic every month.  As a Walking Dead fan, it was also a treat to see Moore’s artwork in color for a change. I now officially consider myself a Deadpool fan!

 

Avenging Spider-Man Annual #1 and #14

 

 

As I said before, Avenging Spidey is one of my favorite comics. The series began a little over a year ago with the creative team of Zebb Wells and Joe Madureira. The first arc had me hooked and was a perfect balance of great writing and amazing artwork. Joe Mad’s work from that arc still stands as some of the best I’ve seen since my return to comics.

However, the next several issues featured a revolving door of new artists and writers that never came close to the quality of the initial run. That trend however, seems to slowly be reversing itself. The aforementioned Deadpool arc was a shot in the arm for the series, and the two issues I am reviewing here were both enjoyable as well.

The annual features a team-up of sorts between Spidey and the Thing. The story was well written by Rob Williams. There are some pretty funny moments, especially towards the end when The Thing and Spider-man share a kiss. That’s right, a kiss!  You’ll just have to read it to find out why…. trust me, your going to laugh! Speaking of The Thing, the artwork in this book, provided by Brad Walker really shines when Ben Grimm is on the page. This is pretty impressive considering The Thing cannot be an easy character to draw!  Overall an entertaining issue for sure.

Issue # 14 starts a new run that finds spider-man returning to the Savage Land. This of course, means lots of dinosaurs! My favorite thing about this issue was the artwork featuring pencils by Aaron Kuder. The book looks great and has a much darker tone then some of the earlier issues of this title. I wasn’t very excited when I initially heard about this arc, but now I am really looking forward to the next issue so I can see what happens next!

AvX Consequences Issues 4 and 5

 

 

These two issues bring this mini-series to a close. I won’t spend a lot of time reviewing them. There was nothing bad here and nothing great either. We do get to some closure on Cyclops, and find out what role he will be playing in the Marvel universe going forward. There were however, a few pages that I really did enjoy. They show the contents of a letter that Cyclops had written for Wolverine. The letter helps explain the motivation for his next move, and gives a great deal of insight into the complicated relationship these two have with one another. The writer (Gillen again) does a good job of painting Cyclops as a shade of grey, rather than a simple black and white villain. For those of you who are interested to see what happens to Cyclops next, and I count myself as one of them, he will be featured in the upcoming comic “The All New X-Men” which debuts next week.

So what did you guys read over the last few week and what were your thoughts about the comics discussed above. I would love to hear your thoughts as well. Till next time, stay nerdy my friends!