Take It Or Leave It – August 7, 2013

Green Arrow #23

Green Arrow continues to be an interesting and engaging read. Even when the story is silly enough to be about a hero named Green Arrow going after an ancient relic known as the Green Arrow, while battling against and alongside more archers than I ever knew could exist. Anyway this issue picks up with Oliver and Shado escaping from Count Vertigo and what not. And while we don’t really get far from that story, we get some interesting history concerning Oliver’s dad and Shado, especially after the big reveal last week. I hope Green Arrow keeps this kind of story telling going, and it doesn’t jump back to the normal vigilante stuff any time soon.

Verdict:Take It

Score: 8/10

Reviewed By: Chris

Green Lantern #23

Green Lantern just keeps moving along, nothing amazing really happened this issue, but it did show a lot of what’s going on with the Corps current situation and where Hal’s head actually is. I’m really getting interested in the rings cutting out the way they are, I’m sure that’s going to lead to something big with probably another cross over between the other Lantern books at some point. For now at least it’s something interesting that’s keeping me reading.

Verdict: Take It

Score: 7/10

Reviewed By: Chris

Artifacts #30

I’ve generally been enjoying Artifacts, but this issue just really missed the mark for me. Angelus is cool and all, but the random dude on the church roof and their heart to heart just didn’t really seem to fit well. It was almost just an excuse to fill people in one some of the lore behind the series. Which while great for newer readers, leaves anyone familiar with it wishing for something a little more. Over all I don’t think I’ll recommend this issue to anyone, but maybe we’ll get lucky and next issue will get better.

Verdict: Leave It

Score: 6/10

Reviewed By: Chris

Burn The Orphanage #1

Wow, if you grew up in the ’90s playing the awesome beat ’em ups you’ll get a kick out of this book. I really wasn’t expecting to be as into this as I was, my only real complaint is the art was very inconsistent. Particular near the end I noticed clothing was changing from panel to panel, and drastically at that. It’s a shame because stuff like that can really pull you away from the story, luckily this was such a fun and surprising kind of nostalgic plot that I didn’t want to stop reading. Better yet this was only part one of a three part story. Definitely do yourselves a favor and check out Burn the Orphanage.

Verdict: Take It

Score: 7/10

Reviewed By: Chris

Hunger #2

I’m not going to lie, I’ve had my problems with the Ultimate imprint as of late, things are just a mess, and not in the fun comic book kind of way. Hunger though is something just different enough and removed far enough from the Ultimate U proper that it’s actually really interesting. The Gah Lak Tus swarm was a really interesting way to change up Galactus back in the early days of the Ultimate Universe, and now to have the original world eater coming into this other universe too it’s really cool. Add to that the return of Ultimate Nova and Silver Surfer and I’m completely on board. It’s nice to see Marvel reaching out to their cosmic heroes all over the place and not just in 616 with Guardians and Nova. This book also managed to make Ultimate Nova seem like less of a jerk, all I remember from his initial issues was that he didn’t want the powers, which he still doesn’t, but he was a bit of a jerk and a baby about it. Now even though he’s not totally into being a hero, he does what he needs to do to protect people. I just hope at some point in this story he gets a burger.

Verdict: Take It

Score: 8/10

Reviewed By: Chris

Superior Spider-Man #15

I have such a love/hate thing going on with Superior Spider-Man, some issues I love it and think Otto is the best thing to happen to Spider-Man in years, other times I think he’s being a creep and sucks. That second one was where I was left after the last two issues, I was really starting to dislike him, and as an extension the book. Then issue 15 comes around and I started liking Otto again, he’s not Pete, and he’ll never be Pete. But for everyone douchey thing the guy does, he really does end up making a big difference. I particularly enjoyed where he was considering giving up being Peter Parker entirely to devote all his time to being Spidey. I’m still not sure that this character can carry the book for a long haul, but for the time being it’s really a great character dynamic. I can’t wait to see where Slott takes things, especially with the return of the Green Goblin who we still don’t know if it’s Norman or not, I kind of hope it’s not.

I also really like the new suit, minus the weird spider leg backpack.

Verdict: Take It

Score: 8/10

Reviewed By: Chris

Screwed #3

Screwed is a weird book, it’s good and you should be reading it, but it’s also pretty weird. After finishing up the first issue I thought it was going to be more of a monster vs. monster books, boy was I wrong. It’s got that, don’t worry, and boy is it gruesome at times. But the main story is a lot more character driven, and isn’t entirely focused on our cover girl Anne, there’s so many other characters bouncing around that it’s really something you need to read to understand. Each issue we get a little more insight into the various players in the story, and learn a little more about what’s going on behind the scenes. I feel like this book is going to have a nice payoff and I’m definitely going to stick around to find out what it is.

Verdict: Take It

Score: 8/10

Reviewed By: Chris