The Comic Book Thread

[SuperKevin]

Anyone else collect comic books? Now is the perfect time to really get into it with DC's New 52 only a year old and Marvel kickstarting their new Marvel NOW campaign.

[SuperKevin]

I'm about to post the schedule of releases for the upcoming Marvel NOW titles. I will also be providing my reviews. Look here for links to all the posts.

Teasers

October 2012
Uncanny Avengers - http://www.virtualsportsnetwork.com/...=1#post2158004
A+X- http://www.virtualsportsnetwork.com/...=1#post2159983

[SuperKevin]

Uncanny Avengers
Released October 10, 2012
Writer: Rick Remender
Artist: John Cassady
IGN review: 7.9 Good
Comic Book Resources review: 4.5/5

This book takes place immediately after the events of the Avengers vs X-Men crossover event. The general public has once again grown distrusting of Mutants following the actions of Cyclops and the Phoenix 5. A new team has been formed to try to bring the Avengers and the X-Men together to help undo some of the damage. Led by Havok, the team consists of Captain America, Thor, and the Scarlet Witch from the Avengers and Wolverine and Rogue from the X-Men.

My review: I loved it and thought it was a great fresh way to kick off Marvel NOW. Rick Remender has been amazing as of late on his work with such titles as Venom, Uncanny X Force, and FrankenCastle and so far he has not disappointed on this book. I'll be honest, I'm not a huge fan of John Cassady's art. It comes accross very plain and simplistic but it's not too big of an issue for me. I felt the first issue did a good job of setting up the team dynamic and showing that this team isn't going to be friendly right off the bat. It ended with one hell of a cliffhanger that I'm incredibly excited for

 

The Red Skull has stolen the brain of the deceased Charles Xavier and plans on using it to eradicate mutant kind. In the 50 or so years of shared existence between Captain America and the X Men I can't think of one time they managed to have Red Skull involved with the X Men so it's a very fresh perspective

Overall, this is definately a series I will be keeping up with.

Variant covers

 

[SuperKevin]

A+X
Released October 31, 2012
Writer: Various
Artist: Various
Inside Pulse Review: 8.5/10
IGN review: 6.9 Okay

In one of the more unique and original approaches to the Marvel NOW lineup, A+X is a collection of short self contained stories pairing a member of the Avengers with a member of the X-Men. Each issue will feature two separate stories written and illustrated by various staff members employed by Marvel. The events of these stories are to take place following the A vs X storyline but aside from that, there is very little connection to anything previously done in the Marvel Universe.

My review: In issue #1 were given pairings of Captain America/Cable and Hulk/Wolverine. I felt the Captain America/Cable pairing is perfect because it allowed for an original story set in Nazi Germany. Doing a Cap story in WW2 was perfect because it is completely the opposite of any other stories we might see. Plus it gave us this epic page:

 

NAZI SENTINELS!

The second story was not as strong in my opinion. I feel the Hulk and Wolverine have crossed paths way too often both as allies and as enemies. However, they were able to come up with an interesting and original plot which was refreshing to see. I know these stories are supposed to be one shot stories but this one definitely deserves to be followed up. Excellent cliffhanger at the end.

Overall it wasn't the best book I've read but I will continue to follow up with it because of the endless possibilities of stories and the revolving door of writers and artists.

Variant covers

 

[SuperKevin]

Here are all of the teasers for the upcoming Marvel NOW releases. I'm placing them in spoilers because there are a lot and I don't want to slow down the site with 25 images.

 

Speculation is that this is going to be the new Uncanny X Men book. It's going to be written by veteran writer and Marvel's chief architect Brian Michael Bendis and illustrated by Chris Bachalo. It's due to be released in February 2013

 

A complete mystery as to what this title will be. First guesses are that it will be a new Daredevil book seeing how he's The Man Without Fear, but Marvel has already confirmed that Mark Waid will continue working on the already existing Daredevil title. Cullen Bunn will be writing and Will Sliney will provide artwork for the book that drops in February 2013

 

This has been confirmed as Young Avengers. The book is written by Kieran Gillen and drawn by Jamie McKelvie. I for one think this is going to be complete garbage and will be likely avoiding it. It comes out in January 2013.

 

This has been confirmed as The Superior Spider-Man. Veteran Spider-Man writer Dan Slot will be writing and Ryan Stegman, Humberto Ramos and Giuseppe Camuncoli will all be providing artwork. This comes out late December 2012

 

This title has been confirmed as The Savage Wolverine. Frank Cho, of comic strip Liberty Meadows fame, will write and illustrate this book. This book appears to be a team up story of Wolverine and Shanna the She Devil in the Savage Land. Looks like an excuse for Cho to draw half naked chicks all day to be honest. It releases in January 2013.

[SuperKevin]

 

At first no one knew what to make of this teaser until it was finally revealed to be Avengers Arena. It's an all new original concept that pits 16 younger members of the Marvel universe in battle royale fight to the death on Arcade's MurderWorld island. Dennis Hopeless writes and Kev Walker provides art for my most anticipated title of the Marvel NOW lineup. It comes out in December 2012.

 

This teaser was confirmed as the all new Thunderbolts title with a new lineup. The linup includes some of Marvels most dangerous and violent characters in Deadpool, Punisher, Elektra, Venom(Flash Thompson version), and the Red Hulk. Daniel Way is writing it and Steve Dillon draws this book coming out December 2012

 

This teaser was stumping people when it was first released but it has since been revealed as Cable and X Force. The lineup for the book is Cable, Forge, Domino, Colossus, and Dr Nemesis. This book has been described as a crime story. Of all the team books to be released, this one seems the most intriguing to me. It's written by Dennis Hopeless and drawn by Salvador Larocca for a December 2012 release

 

This has been confirmed as the new Uncanny X Force book. I am likely going to be avoiding this book like the plague because I feel Rick Remender did such a good job with it that I don't even want to see how someone else will screw this up. They already started to screw it up with the new team lineup of Storm, Psylocke, Puck(seriously?), and Spiral. Sam Humphries writes and Ron Garney illustrates this title that comes out in January 2013.

[TimsGiants]

Ive been collecting D&D comics. My kids are young so rather than read a child book to them we read comics together.

[SuperKevin]

I've started buying comics for my daughter too.

[SuperKevin]

I got completely sidetracked on this thread. I'm not going to go back and offer reviews of each book but I will just do a basic run down of good and bad titles

Great Titles
Uncanny Avengers- Amazing book but the release schedule has been really slow. It was the first book to be released and it is already 3 books behind titles like Deadpool, Iron Man, and All New X-Men
Iron Man- Honestly based off the first issue I thought it was going to be boring but it really picked up steam and has been one of my favorite titles of Marvel Now.
All New X-Men- Probably my favorite book so far. Excellent premise and Brian Michael Bendis does not disapoint.
Deadpool- Hilarious book with enough going on to make it a must buy.
Thor- Really solid premise as it tracks Thor through three seperate time periods in the same book and ties them all together

Good Titles
Cable and X-Force- Really enjoy Cable as a character and the book has been mysterious enough to keep you wanting more
Thunderbolts- The artwork takes a little getting used to but the story has been solid so far
Avengers- My favorite artwork of them all so far. Brand new villian is a plus but the weird plot line so far keeps this from being a Great title
X-Men Legacy- Legion is a weird character to build a book around but they've made it work.

Meh Titles
Indestructible Hulk- Not a huge fan of the art but the story has some redeeming qualities
Fantastic Four- It's early so I really don't know what to make of the interdimensional family vacation plot
Captain America- Poor artork and a weird storyline make this almost unreadble for me. Not willing to give up on a character like Cap though

Awful Titles
A+X- Thought it had promise at first but the last few issues have been gagworthy. I'm done with it
Avengers Arena- I liked the Lord of The Flies premise at first but I have ZERO interest in any of the characters
FF- Worst artwork I have ever seen in a comic book. Not even solid by Newspaper funny pages standards

[SuperKevin]

This week I picked up Morbius The Living Vampire #1 and New Avengers #1. Both are decent but It will take a few issues to decide on if I'll stick with them

[calgaryballer]

As mentioned in my duplicate thread, I spent the weekend reading all of Valiant's lineup. I loved them all. The art and story from the company nails it on pretty much every book. If I had to rank them, it would be:

XO Manowar - Visigoth gets captured by aliens, steals their super armor, comes to present day, and now wants revenge. Win!
Archer and Armstrong
Bloodshot - government creation with nanobeings in his blood that allow him to regenerate. Leading in to a tie in with...
Harbinger - the main character is a bit whiny for me, but I am very intrigued
Shadowman - I am intrigued, but only two issues so far. We shall see

[SuperKevin]

I had a ton of Valiant titles in the mid 90s. I recently went back and found my old collection and I have a signed copy of X-O Manowar #1. Probably not worth much but it's a nice gem for the collection

[calgaryballer]

I also spent Christmas reading Hickmans fantastic four/FF run. I have never been a huge fan of theirs, but holy shit did Hickman kill it.

Everything that happened from the first to the end had consequences. I usually hate kid characters, but the way he wrote Franklin and Val had me laughing out loud. It was also touching, especially Franklin and Peter at the end of the Death arc

[calgaryballer]

I had a ton of Valiant titles in the mid 90s. I recently went back and found my old collection and I have a signed copy of X-O Manowar #1. Probably not worth much but it's a nice gem for the collection

As long as it has value to you. I collect, but signatures and mint condition don't mean much to me. I just want to enjoy it

[SuperKevin]

Superior Spider-Man
Released: January 9th, 2013
Writer: Dan Slott
Artist: Ryan Stegman
IGN Rating: 6.2 Okay
SuperHero Hype Review: 7.5 out of 10

Superior Spider-Man kicks off right were Amazing Spider-Man #700 left off.

 

Otto Octavius, a.k.a. Dr Octopus, has switched bodies with Peter Parker and now is in control of his body and the Spider-Man mantle

We see Spider-Man take on a new Sinister Six using unfamiliar tactics that classic Spider-Man fans may find to be a bit disheartening. But right when you start to think this isn't your dad's Spider-Man, a twist comes out of left field and gives you a bit of hope for the webslinger afterall.


I applaud Dan Slott for being able to provide a new original twist on Spider-Man. Classic fans may still be a bit upset over how Amazing Spider-Man ended up but I have 100% faith in Dan Slott's ability to win back those fans who were ready to turn their backs on Spidey. Ryan Stegman also provides some of the best artwork I've seen in ages for a Spider-Man book. Overall I have to say this is one of the better opening books Marvel NOW has put out and I eagerly await future issues of this book.