Take It Or Leave It – November 6, 2013

Welcome to Take It Or Leave It, where each week we pick out some of that week’s newest comics and give you our opinion on whether it was worth the price and you should take it, or if it was better left sitting on the shelf.

We’ve got another great week full of comic goodness for you. After a couple weeks off and a very limited edition last week this time we’ve pack full of books to talk about. So lets just get started already.

Alphabetical by Publisher

Big Dog Ink | DC Comics | IDW Publishing
Image Comics | Marvel Comics | Zenescope Entertainment

Shahrazad #1 After months of promotion from Big Dog Ink, Shahrazad #1 is finally out. Back in June I got a chance to read the preview issue that kind of setup what the story was all about. Now months later the story is finally get started. Issue one does a pretty good job of getting that story started too, we get some pretty epic scenes on the open sea with your traditional sea monsters coming into play a bit. I obviously don’t want to spoil anything, but if the coming issues can build about these correctly this should be a pretty cool book to read. On the other hand though, if things are carried on fast enough it’s going to get dull and boring quick. We’re going to need the story to keep moving at the same pace, and develop the characters for this to really take off. It’s a pretty easy decision if you’re a fan of fantasy stuff, in the vein of Once Upon A Time or the Grimm Fairy Tale stuff I’d say you’ll feel right at home with Shahrazad Verdict: Take It Score: 8/10 Reviewed By: Chris

Batman Superman #5 The first very. . . strange multi-universe arc of Batman Superman was a fun time and really enjoyable. Issue 5 starts a new arc though, with new artist. Tons of books are great out of the gate, but start to lose it after the first arc. Luckily Batman Superman keeps things interesting with a bit of a ‘Real World’ Vs. Video Game plot going on. The first arc showed us that Bruce and Clark weren’t always friends. This second one is showing us that even though they’re close friends now, they still have their differences. I particularly enjoyed Batman’s reaction to Nightwing after his disagreement with Superman. I’ve mentioned before I’m not the biggest fan of the Man of Steel, but this is definitely the kind of book I think I could keep on reading, you probably should too. Verdict: Take It Score: 7/10 Reviewed By: Chris

Superman Unchained #4 Oh more Superman to talk about this week. I started out really liking Superman Unchained, and while it’s still interesting, I’m starting to get a little bored by it. Honestly if it didn’t have the team it does working on it, I don’t know if I would even be reading it anymore. Lee and Snyder are keeping Superman just interesting enough for me to want to keep reading, and I’m sure if you’re a fan you’ll be even more enamored by it. I like what they’re doing with Wraith, I just hope we get some answers, I know he’s going to have to die or vanish by the end of the issue. Well I guess he doesn’t have to, but I feel like there won’t be such a powerful character around to either go against or train Superman. So if you’re a fan of Superman this is a must read, if you’re not but want to give him a shot Superman Unchained probably isn’t a bad place to start. Verdict: Take It Score: 7/10 Reviewed By: Chris

Ghostbusters #9 Something about this issue of Ghostbusters just didn’t click with me. Most of the series has been a great time, but issue 9 just fell a little short for me. The ‘Ghost’ wasn’t all the interesting nor was it an exciting capture. In fact it all seemed pretty simple. I suppose it could just be leading to something far far worse for the gang, but we’re not talking about the big picture right now, this is all about the individual issues. And this individual issue just feel short of the level the rest of the series has set as a standard. Verdict: Leave It Score: 5/10 Reviewed By: Chris

Morning Glories #34 This was probably the most straightforward and easy to follow issue of Morning Glories since the book started. Well as straightforward as this book ever is honestly. The flashbacks were all about Jade, and really brought up a lot of question about her. We also got a definite answer on the whole Jun issue from the end of last issue too which was nice. And when I say definite I mean what they said was real, but we still don’t know how the hell any of it happened. This was just a really nice issue, and it was great to have everything kind of taken back a step and be a more character focused issue without tons of time travel and such. Verdict: Take It Score: 8/10 Reviewed By: Chris

Amazing X-Men #1 Well another X-Men book is officially on the shelves, and while we probably didn’t need it, I am pretty glad we have it. I’ve always been a Nightcrawler fan, and this is the book that will bring him back after years of being dead. Issue 1 set everything up nicely with a fun team of X-Men traveling to what I’m assuming is the afterlife to both take down Azazel and bring home the Blue Elf. The opening to the book was honestly probably the highlight with Nightcrawler getting right back into action even though he’s in Heaven at the time. A close second would be the. . .interesting introduction of a nervous Firestar to the Jean Grey School. If this series keep going in the right direction from here, it’s going to be going Mr. Bendis a run for best X-Title. Verdict: Take It Score: 8/10 Reviewed By: Chris

Mighty Avengers #3 Mighty Avengers is exactly the Avengers book I wanted when Bendis left, unfortunately Hickman has been delivering something very different, and just not nearly as much fun. The best part of the Mighty Avengers is it actually feels like an Avengers book, with a group of heroes coming together to save the day from something no single one could take down alone. It’s like the moto of the team after all. I particular enjoyed Luke Cages speech at the end, that’s how you introduce a new team of Avengers, I hope Hickman is taking notes. Verdict: Take It Score: 8/10 Reviewed By: Chris

Tyler Kirkham’s Screwed #6 Screwed wraps up with issue 6, and it’s been on crazy ride. It’s been a lot of fun getting here, but unfortunately I wasn’t completely sold on the finale. It wasn’t a bad way to close out the series, in fact it was actually pretty damn good. The questions that have been hanging around since the beginning all started to fall into place for answers. The thing that got me was some of the closure to it, just felt like it was there for shock value. It certainly kept in line with every other issue, this was not a happy ending, not in the least. If you’ve missed the rest of Screwed, definitely grab a copy of the trade when it comes out. Zenescope is usually pretty quick with getting collection out, so you shouldn’t have to wait long. Otherwise if you’ve already been following it, there is no reason not to miss this one! Verdict: Take It Score: 8/10 Reviewed By: Chris

Chris talks a bunch on PodQuest each week. He's also been known to write about stuff from time to time. You can Email Chris or follow Chris on Twitter @Just_Cobb or Facebook

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