Review Scale:
The mythical A+: Classic comic book material. Belongs next to your copy of The Notebook and The Joy of Cooking.
A: Would definitely recommend to all comic book readers. Even more so to fans of the genre or characters
B: Enjoyable read. Fans of the genre or characters will especially like.
C: Non-essential read. Can be enjoyable for fans of the genre or characters, but likely for only one or two events in the books.
D: Unenjoyable book. Read at your own risk. Might find satisfaction if major flaws are overlooked.
F: Please don’t buy this book. Donate your money to a local comic book writer’s workshop instead to inspire future generations to write something better than this trash.
Pick of the Week:
The Flash #35 – A
With the new CW television show really taking off, it’s important that we don’t forget that Barry Allen has a super-awesome story going on in his New52 series. In an maligned attempt to stop the Speed Force from becoming further disrupted, Barry has traveled back in time to kill his present self. It’s a concept that may lose others not familiar with the book’s tendency to skip around in time, but the fallen hero angle is a great look for The Flash. There is a particular reveal in this issue that will make long-time fans giggle with joy, but whether or not this character sticks around is yet to be seen. Simply put, The Flash is an incredibly well-done book each month, and with the new series doing making such an impression, it’s time the rest of the world realizes that, too. – Sherif
Other Reviews:
Boom! Studios:
(A) Holy balls, this book is awesome. Memetic is a story about the end of the world like we’ve never heard before and it’s honestly kind of terrifying. Memetic #1 starts on an average day in the life of a college student, he’s in a text fight with his boyfriend and perusing Reddit, Facebook, and Twitter when he sees a kind of creepy meme of a sloth giving a thumbs up. People are obsessing over it and talking about how it gives them a euphoric feeling simply to gaze upon it and suddenly the idea of our society being destroyed by our own mindless obsession with all things internet is introduced. This is a 48 page special edition and I have to say, it did not feel like it. It was a quick read and I was hooked pretty early on. The characters are well written; I actually give a damn about them. The writing is compelling and I honestly had fearful reactions to it, which in my opinion is really impressive. My stomach sank at the right times, and the dark places the story goes are genuinely pretty creepy. I mean, rage zombies are a scary son of a bitch am I right? I’m not going to lie, as I read through it there were times when it seemed a little silly. The idea of “Meme Warfare” is kind of absurd, mostly because I have no idea how such a thing would even be possible, but aside from that I have no qualms up to this point. Memetic is scary, it’s bloody, it’s smart, and while it may be a little elitist with its obvious “Our obsession with technology will be our own downfall” message I would absolutely recommend it to anyone who likes a good horror book or anyone who’s ever scrolled through their Facebook feed and felt like humanity really is doomed. – Keriann
Dark Horse:
Predator: Fire & Stone #1 – A
I’m in love with the Dark Horse Fire & Stone storyline! Weaving together the cornerstone Alien and Predator worlds with the newer Prometheus and Alien vs. Predator spin-offs, this adventure has raised my expectations of each of these franchises. Each entry in the Fire & Stone series does an exceptional job of staying true to the host title AND weaving in with the other arcs. This is especially notable considering that nothing is in chronological order at this point. Now that I think about it, Fire & Stone has demonstrated one of the best uses of the comic medium that I’ve ever seen. I’m certainly enjoying these issues WAY more than I enjoyed Aliens vs. Predators: Requiem. If you haven’t started on these yet I recommend it! Be sure to read in the order they’ve been released though! I promise it will add to the experience. – Taylor
DC/Vertigo:
Arkham Manor – C+
(A-) This is a very interesting concept. Arkham Asylum has been destroyed and Wayne Manor has become the new location to house it former occupants. I don’t have a lot to say about this, but, I enjoyed it quite a bit. It is very much an exposition issue and sets us up for, what I hope to be, a very enjoyable read. I did have one glaring problem with this book, all of the characters looked like various versions of Jay Leno…what’s with big chins? Either way, give this one a go as Batman has to fight his enemies in his childhood bedroom. – Cody
(D) It’s just not that good. The writing is boring and the art just doesn’t fit. Batman looks like he hasn’t eaten in a week. I honestly was turned off and bored rather quickly. I did not find it worth to finish the book. – Scott
Earth 2: World’s End #3 – C-
Wow, a lot happened in 20 pages. This had a little bit of everything and that wasn’t necessarily good. This one picked up where last week’s left off in that things are still all over the place. It’s becoming difficult to keep track of everything and everyone. I’m starting to lose interest so hopefully they reel this thing in a bit. – Cody
Multiversity – The Just #1 – D
Let me be clear. The only thing keep me from flunking this comic is Ben Oliver’s art work. About the only redeeming quality of Multiversity – The Just is the awesome character detail and composition. The Just was terrible. Almost every cardinal sin of telling a parallel universe/multidimensional story was perpetrated in this new DC series. Overflowing with unnecessary complexity, bastardizing beloved characters, panels containing superfluous and perplexing content, failure to focus the story or provide a plot, inability to harness potential (this story actually had all the necessary pieces that could have made it great), and my list goes on and on. This was the most massive disappointment I experienced all week. I’d steer clear if I were you. This one isn’t worth the time. – Taylor
IDW Comics:
TMNT/Ghostbusters #1 – B+
(A) I’ll admit, this is the first Turtles book I’ve read, and I loved it! A great mash up starts between the Ghostbusters and the Turtles and it’s executed wonderfully and stayed true to both franchises. The art was really great and I appreciated the change in styles. In fact, this book was drawn by three different people, one for each plane of existence. I especially liked the ghost that the Ghostbusters fight. Does anyone else think it looks like Mike Wazowski? I’ll definitely be reading the next issue and you should definitely read it, too. It’s a great, fun Halloween read! – Cody
(A) I was as wary of this series as I was excited for the X-Files: Conspiracy crossover with the Lone Gunmen. I felt that series left each story a little short and didn’t put enough focus on each different property they were crossing over with. This one seem to be more grounded, well-written and, hey, they both live in New York (despite it being other dimensions). The artwork is solid and the story so far has been great and will only improve now that the two teams have met and know the conflict. I am not sure I even need to tell anyone to read this – and if you need convincing, you need a huge 80s culture slap to the head. – Jacob
(B-) Yes you read that correctly, adolescent fighting reptiles team up with those crazy guys who fight ghosts but have cheesy commercials. Is it as awesome as it sounds? No, not really, but it is a wonderful piece of nostalgia for people like myself. The writing is little cornball. If you watched the Ghostbusters cartoon as a kid like me, you’ll understand what I mean. If you’d like to know what I mean, head to YouTube and find The Real Ghostbusters. I appreciate that both groups make early reference to the films, even if the turtles are referring to Turtles in Time. The art is pretty average, very cartoony, but that’s to be expected and doesn’t bother me. The only art qualm I have are the Ghostbusters themselves; they don’t really represent the characters I grew up on. None of the Ghostbusters really look like what you would expect, especially Winston, who is awkwardly big lipped. This first issue is just interesting enough for me to continue the series. It survives a lot on the nostalgia factor. -Scott
Samurai Jack #13 – B
We last left Jack with basically no hope and no way to fight Aku because his magical sword had been destroyed. With this, Jack was left to wonder the earth in hiding as Aku sent out killers and posted wanted posters all over the place to capture Jack. Will he find a way to defeat Aku without his sword and finally find it back to his time? Well it is highly likely the first one will happen but don’t expect a happy ending just yet. The art in this series has continually been fantastic and this arc is by far the most. If you a fan of Jack please get the back issues, and try and catch up as this is all leading up to something big. – Jacob
Edward Scissorhands #1 – B-
(B+) Oh man, IDW are you living inside my mind? Because you seem to publish books about everything I love. With that being said, this Edward Scissorhands series is going to be a lot different from the story of the film and they make damn sure you know that as it takes place many years in the future. Kim from the film is dead from the start and the human it focuses on is her granddaughter. So the whole town will be different and the only person you will recognize is Edward. The art alone is wonderful, and even reminds me a bit of the animated Beetlejuice. The story seems good so far, setting up Edward to be a hero of sort instead of the wanted murderer the town saw him as at the end of the film. If you love the original film, or Tim Burton in general, do yourself a favor and pick this up. – Jacob
(C) This is a tough one for me, as I think it will be for anyone who has a love for the movie Edward Scissorhands. I have preconceived ideas about how this book should be, and unfortunately that does not quite work in its favor. The writing isn’t bad, the story is even pretty interesting, albeit not what I was imagining. This miniseries will apparently tell the story of Kim’s (Winona Ryder) granddaughter as she goes to find the monster man her grandmother used to tell her about before she died. Meanwhile Edward has been up in his house, doing his thing, being lonely… The story seems sweet enough but it’s already gone in a strange direction with Edward finding another “boy creation” from The Inventor, but this one seems to like murdering rats for some reason. It’s weird and frankly it doesn’t make sense and I don’t like it. At least Edward is written as a gentle and sweet and Kim’s granddaughter seems to share her spunky rebellious nature. My biggest problem with this book is absolutely the artwork. Don’t get me wrong, I will never be the person to insult someone’s craft, but the imagery just does not fit with this world. The drawings are cutesy and would fit way better in a Sunday morning comic strip or children’s book. The dark world of Tim Burton is no place for cutesy cartoonish drawings and it’s not just distracting, it honestly brings the book down a few notches for me. I would recommend that lovers of the movie give Edward Scissorhands #1 a try, but if you’re not a fan of the movie or have never seen it for some insane reason then I wouldn’t bother because you’ll probably hate it. Overall Edward Scissorhands is not a bad read, it’s just telling a story no one was asking to hear. – Keriann
The X-Files: Season 10 #17 – B-
Shits’ going down in X-Files; well, I guess that is true all the time, but now we get a peek into another series coming out soon of Millennium by bringing in another Chris Carter-created character Frank Black to help with the current case in this series. I personally can’t wait for Frank Black to have a bigger role and his own series starting soon as Millenium was a very underrated show that was different but lived in the same universe as X-Files. The case to bring these two together for both series requires a psychic like Frank Black so within both series we will see Mulder and Frank investigating the strange happening going on. I really do love the art of this series, but if only they could create well-lit scenes, that would make it feel a little more normal as the shadows are über-extreme. However, the writing in this issue was really good and hopefully they will keep it up here and have a great crossover going on here. – Jacob
Super Secret Crisis War! Cow and Chicken #1 – C+
I always liked Cow and Chicken but it was a cartoon that was along the same vein of Ren and Stimpy with very gross humor and an abnormal amount of butt shots. This kept my mom from letting us watch too much of it, but it still brings back very good memories and this issue captured the nature of the show perfectly, even the abnormal amount of butt shots of the characters. The story felt way too long for what was happening and ended with anything to really show for it. So although it is enjoyable as a stand-alone Cow and Chicken comic, it does not connect nearly as well as the past one shots to the main story line. – Jacob
The X-Files: Year Zero #4 – C
Two X-Files books in the same week! That is definitely awesome for any fan of the franchise. This mini-series has only one issue left until we finally finish off the first case in X-Files history. Personally, I have felt this is the weakest entry of X-Files‘ tenure at IDW but it still offers a good story into the history of something we never knew we wanted to know. We have Werewolfs, weird Demons/Aliens being calling themselves Zero/Xero, and all sort of weird Hijinks going on connecting a current case to the first case. I am hoping next month’s finale gives us a good ending that will finish this story up well but if it continues the way it is now it will likely be a lack luster ending. The art of this series is a bit too simple for my taste, as it looks like someone took a cartoon and added shadow to try and make it look detailed which gives it an interesting look but overall a bit distracting when reading a serious story. – Jacob
Image Comics:
The Walking Dead #133 – B
(B) The roller coaster is still climbing upward! The shroud of eerie mystery surrounding “The Whisperers” continues to give my bones goosebumps! The living society is so strong and calm at this stage of the game. I know – because it is, after all, THE Walking Dead – that everything will come crashing down in the most phenomenal fashion. To think of the magnitude of the threat needed to bring Rick and team to their knees is mind-blowing. It’s coming and it’s tearing me up and I love it! I’ve also come up with a theory. I think the deliberate absence and failure to mention Michonne issue after issue is significant and connected to The Whisperers. All this unsubstantiated and only in my head at this point, but you don’t just drop an all-time fan favorite without offering even the smallest modicum of an explanation. We’re due for a punch to the gut very soon Hush-fans! Brace yourselves! – Taylor
(B) The group continues to live in relative peace and harmony, but those weirdos are still out there. A lot of stuff goes down in this issue, none of which will make Rick happy. We get a bit more of those Leatherface wannabes and they sure are an interesting bunch of “people” who are guaranteed to give you nightmares. Some of the character building in this one was a little stale, I’m just not a big fan of romances during zombie apocalypses so that was a bit tedious to get through. Rosita has done something totally uncool to poor nerdy Eugene and he takes it like a man like that would. I have a feeling things are going to get really heavy, really soon so get to reading because TWD has never been this good. – Cody
Goners #1 – C
I applaud any effort to build a story based on the merging of something “real” with something otherworldly. In Goners case, this merging would be that of the human world as you and I know it and the realm of the paranormal. The concept is solid. The delivery, less-so. The structure of an individual comic issue does not support multi-themed story telling. Reading this premiere issue, I found myself distracted and uninterested in the softer, family oriented parts of the issue. I wanted more creepy ghouls and intense action (this aspect being the other theme throughout)! By the time I ran out of pages the fishing hook had just been cast – it never had an opportunity to land. I’ll give it one more issue before I call it quits. – Taylor
Marvel:
Avengers & X-Men Axis #3 – B+
This series has definitely proven to be really entertaining and has already had a battle spanning three issues. In this particular issue, the plot lines takes a huge right turn from what has been set up until now, and we see the Villains come in to combat Red Onslaught as we saw in the last panel of last months issue. I am hoping something else comes up in this story because it will be hard to top the already epic battle. The art is definitely great and the story line is one of the better Marvel events I have read this year. – Jacob
Deadpool #36 – B
This Deadpool issue ties in heavily to the Avengers & X-Men Axis issue this month and even takes a lot of its story directly from the pages of Axis since Deadpool played a large role in this week’s issue. That doesn’t mean this issue does not have its own story. It starts where last month’s issue left off, with Deadpool donating his organs to his friends, the Faux-Men, at the X-Mansion to help them live, and then go crazy from there. As always, for the main Deadpool series, the art is great and although a bunch of this issue covers stuff you already know if you read Axis it still gives us the story through Deadpool’s eyes, and that usually can always give a story a boost in the right direction. – Jacob
Death of Wolverine: The Logan Legacy #2 – B-
The stories stemming from Wolverine’s death seem to have a much more interesting story than his death itself (although I found it beautiful in its own way). But this series had an initial beginning issue covering all of Wolverine’s closet friends and foe. Now each issue is covering one of those characters and a story of what Wolverine meant to them. This week we got to see X-23, Wolverine’s female clone. who he took in as a daughter and trained. Although this isn’t the best story, I would still give this series a chance as it is going to show us so many different aspects of who Wolverine is and how much he really did do to keep the entire Marvel universe together. – Jacob
Funniest Panel:
Panel with the Most Awesomeness:
That about wraps it up for our reviews this week! Look for next week’s previews coming soon. Any comic books you didn’t see reviewed that you want reviewed? Any grades you didn’t agree on? Let us know in the comments!
All images taken from ComiXology app and the credit for them goes to the respective publishers; thanks to IDW Comics, image Comics, Dark Horse, Boom! Studios, Dynamite Entertainment, DC and Marvel for putting out great books.
Hush Comics 