Take It Or Leave It – July 3, 2013

Batman Incorporated #12

This series lost a lot of momentum with issue 11, it was an unnecessary pit stop on a story that didn’t have much of a shelf life to begin with. When you kill a major character, especially one that has ties to so many other books, you have to move it along fast. That’s just the opposite of what Morrison is doing with his finale in Batman Incorporated. It’s been months since Damien’s death, and while the other bat-family books have had the characters working through their grief, Batman Inc is still happening way back during the initial fallout and I for one just don’t care anymore. Yes it sucks that Damien is dead, but when do heroes stay dead? That said, issue 12 does have a few good points. Finally seeing Leviathan’s face was. . . interesting, as was the generally reactions of characters. I will say I’m not to keen on Morrison giving us more mystery’s with this woman, or what I’m assuming is a woman running a larger international criminal take down group. I guess we’ll have to wait and see where this goes, but at this point I don’t think it’s worth it. If you want some truly emotional fallout from the death of Damien check out the last several issues of Batman and Robin (or Batman And . . .).

Verdict: Leave It

Score: 5/10

Reviewed By: Chris

Green Arrow #22

I’m glad I started reading Green Arrow, I always thought he was just kind of a douche, and at points I’m sure he was. Really what superhero hasn’t been? But after really enjoying the series Arrow, I figured why not give Ollie a chance where he started, on the comic page. It’s taken a few issues to really understand what’s happening, but luckily Jeff Lemire doesn’t build impossible stories to follow like a certain Avengers writers has been doing, instead his stories are just plan entertaining. The weird stuff in the desert with Magnus is over for Ollie and he’s got his mission now, and with the help of his allies he’s off to find out about his past and save his future. This issue had great pacing and the interaction between Oliver and his allies, Fyff and Naomi, adds a bit of humor to what could just be standard action scenes. And of course, the final pages give us a few answers, in exchange for more questions. Issue 22 of Green Arrow was a fun time, and not a bad jumping on spot, with a new mission in life, you can pretty much figure out what’s happening.

Verdict: Take It

Score: 8/10

Reviewed By: Chris

Green Lantern #22

Venditti and Tan are doing a great job following up on the Johns’ legendary run. It’s succeeding because they aren’t trying to mimic it. In these first two issues they’ve set the stage for a problem. The Green Lanterns have multiple problems happening all at once, and no one really seems to worried about the biggest problem that pops up in this issue. It’s really well done to have something go so terrible wrong, but have it be such a minor thing that all the key players don’t give it a second thought. Maybe I’m just grasping at things here, but I have a feeling we’re going to be seeing a lot of fallout from some things that happened in this issue. I’ll admit I was skeptical about continuing with Green Lantern after issue 20, but I’m glad I have and I’ll be staying with this book for the foreseeable future.

Verdict:Take It

Score: 7/10

Reviewed By: Chris

Dark Skullkickers Dark #1

Dark Skullkickers Dark ends the 5 part series of new number 1’s for Skullkickers. And boy does it finish up the same way it started, completely out there and silly. It’s great when an action comic doesn’t take itself seriously, this book is what I wish the currently Deadpool run could have been. It makes fun of itself, while still having an interesting story to follow, and from the looks of the ending things are going to get worse for our heroes before they start getting better. Now if you’re just getting started, because like many, you saw the #1 on the cover and thought “Hey why not give it a shot” well you’re probably a little angry, and a bit confused at the same time. Fear not though, the book clears up most of the confusion as you go, and what’s left is meant to be confusing, it’s kind of a thing in this series. But you will most definitely have a good time with this book, so give it a chance.

Verdict: Take It

Score:

Reviewed By:

Five Weapons #5

I was nervous for this book, each month I’ve looked forward to Five Weapons, but this story could have so easily been rushed and ruined in it’s final chapter. Thankfully that wasn’t the case, it was handled nicely with everything being revealed and settled up by the end. No questions were left unanswered, our fake Tyler proved once again that you don’t need a weapon to be a powerful. The worst part for me was the ending though, not because it’s bad, just because it’s not what I wanted. It wasn’t really a traditional ‘Happy Ending’, sure everything worked out, but that doesn’t mean it’s what was expected. At least the book was left open for a sequel, which I’m sure is planned since it ended with a To Be Continued. . .

Verdict: Take It

Score: 8/10

Reviewed By: Chris

Avengers A.I. #1

I personally didn’t now what to think about Age Of Ultron AI last week. It wasn’t a bad book, and as John said,, it was worth reading. The problem was I didn’t know what it was leading to, and didn’t really know if I cared. Age of Ultron was a huge disappointment, did I really want to continue on with something that felt like a huge waste of time? Well the answer is surprisingly yes, Avengers A.I. is actually a pretty good book, Pym has kind of an unhinged feeling about him, but in a good way. He’s done with the self pity and loathing, he’s ready to be the hero he was always meant to be. And he’s got 3 ‘buddies’ along for the ride, one being the Doombot we saw at the end of Age of Ultron A.I. I don’t know if this series will have the longevity to last long, but even a solid story arc would be enough to get Pym back in the spot light, along with another long time Avenger, The Vision. And while I like Sam Humphries, I do wish that Mark Waid was the one writing this, after the work he did in that first A.I. issue.

Verdict: Take It

Score: 7/10

Reviewed By: Chris

Iron Man #12

The Secret Origin of Tony Stark has been a fun and compelling ride so far. Seeing what literally lead to the birth of the Iron Avengers has been great. I gave this book a really hard time early on, it just wasn’t good, and shipped far to much. I’m glad I stuck around though as this story line has made it all worth while. Issue 12 finishes up the origin parts of the story and leads Tony towards a new future that he never would have dreamed. Whether we’ll be down for it or not is another story entirely. If you haven’t been following Iron Man recently you’re missing out on something different, this book has been anything but your standard Iron Man stories and that’s part about what making it so much fun to read.

Verdict: Take It

Score: 7/10

Reviewed By: Chris

Venom #37

Boy Flash has certainly been having a bad time as of late, and issue 37 doesn’t let it get any easier for him. Not only does he have to deal drug, arms, and people trafficing, now there are mercs on par with certain members of the Avengers coming after him. It’s been a while that Flash has been setup in Philly, but I feel like he’s really just getting started, he doesn’t have much of a supporting cast yet, and that’s one of the biggest things holding him back. Hopefully Bunn starts expanding on characters like the students in school, Katy, and even Eddie Brock, and make them part of Flashes life more than just background noise while while he’s dealing with bad guys.

Verdict: Take It

Score: 6/10

Reviewed By: Chris

Grimm Fairy Tales Presents Oz #1

Oz isn’t a new world to get a comic book adaption, there are quite a few of them out there. This is the first one I’ve read though, and I’m definitely on board. The biggest change I saw right up front was that Toto is a bad ass wolf now and that is exactly what you’d expect from this story. If you want to compare this to the movie, which isn’t really easy, issue 1 is that first bit in black and white. We learn the lead character, and get our first taste of Oz, but not much else is revealed. Like they did with Jungle Book, Zenescope is taking a classic story and really making it something unique without losing those elements that make the story so endearing. Just updating them to a more 21st century feel.

Verdict: Take It

Score: 8/10

Reviewed By: Chris

Screwed #2

I really enjoyed the first issue of Screwed, it had some great gory action and a fairly compelling concept. Issue 2 tones down the action a bit, but digs deeper into some of the characters. We find out what some of the motives are, and who’s really on who’s side. Anne still doesn’t really know what’s going on, and she’s still seeing everyone else as monsters. She’s on track to figure out what happened to her, and I’m pretty sure she’s not going to be pleased when she gets the whole story. The story is still getting all of it’s pieces in order, but I’m really excited to see what bloody twists and turns are still to come. If you didn’t check out issue one, jump on board before it’s to late!

Verdict: Take It

Score: 9/10

Reviewed By: Chris

Avengers #15

15 issue down and this title just doesn’t have anything worth reading it for. I don’t care about the characters, and the story is so hard to follow I don’t even know what’s going on. If you want an Avengers book pick one of the many others out there, leave this one on the shelf.

Verdict – Leave It

Score: 2/10

Reviewed By: Chris