Amazing Spider-Man #599
Joe Kelly (w), Stephen Segovia, Marco Checchetto, Paulo Siqueira, Amilton Santos (a). Marvel Comics.
The art is solid all throughout, but it’s still weird having all these different artists on board for this. It’s also really cool to have Spider-Man’s mask look like Grifter’s from Wildcats, but this issue could have been called “The Amazing Harry Osborn” what with Harry doing all the fighting and all. It’s fair though, since the beginning of this arc Spider-Man has been pretty beat-up, so by this point he’s barely standing. Now that I think about it, that’s how most of Spider-Man’s big fights go, so really it’s more refreshing to see him not have to pull out a miraculous win, and just let the other guy save the day. — Isaac Mills
Isaac’s rating: 3.5 out of 5
Batman: Streets of Gotham #2
Paul Dini, Co-Feature: Mark Andreyko (w), Dustin Nguyen, Co-Feature: Georges Jeanty (p), Derek Fridolfs, Co-Feature: Dexter Vines (i). DC Comics.
So I guess this is just another Batman book, right? I thought the idea was that it would tackle more street-level crime or focus more on the Gotham City Police Department or something, but I guess I was wrong. This issue focuses on supervillains and Batman and Robin beating them up. It was good enough, I suppose, but as far as I can tell, this same story could’ve been told in Batman. The Manhunter co-feature was great, but ten pages of great plus twenty-two pages of generic Batmanishness don’t justify my four dollars. Especially when Batman and Robin is coming out. – Owen Craig
Owen’s rating: 2 out of 5
Isaac’s rating: 3.5 out of 5
Blackest Night #1, Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps #1
For Owen’s review of Blackest Night #1 and Isaac’s review of Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps #1, check out our Crossover Corner at the bottom of the page.
The Brave and the Bold #25
Adam Beechen (w), Roger Robinson (p), Hilary Barta (i). DC Comics.
I don’t like Adam Beechen as a writer — maybe he’s an okay guy, I couldn’t tell you, but he wrecked the characterization of a perfectly good Batgirl, so that’s a lot of strikes against him. This Blue Beetle sounds an awful lot like his cartoon counterpart — which isn’t necessarily bad, except of course for my naturally being a stickler for continuity. The other thing is that these DC guys are really trying to push Hardware on us. Okay, do what you want, it’s your comic company, I just prefer my DC-style Iron Man to be Steel. – Isaac Mills
Isaac’s rating: 3 out of 5
Dark Avengers #7
Matt Fraction (w), Luke Ross (p), Rick Magyar, Mark Pennington & Luke Ross (i). Marvel Comics.
This small crossover is proving to be a lot of fun. The thing that makes it so much fun for me is the way Fraction plays characters against each other. Especially the dialogue between Emma and Norman; the distrust is practically dripping from the speech bubbles. This issue finds an excellent balance between fight scenes and non-boring strategy-banter. I’m normally not a fan of when characters discuss their plans ad-nauseum but Fraction makes it work. Plus Emma Frost’s new black outfit looks awesome when she’s all diamonded-out. – Owen Craig
Owen’s rating: 3.5 out of 5
Dark Reign: Mister Negative #2
Fred Van Lente (w), Gianluca Gugliotta (a). Marvel Comics.
The story thus far: a budding gang war with the Hood results in a kind of brain-washing on Spider-Man so he’ll fight the Hood’s goons on behalf of Mister Negative. That’s all well and good, but Spider-Man’s narration sounds so evil! I’d rather not think that my heroes enjoy doing evil deeds. There’s a funny section where Norman Osborn is reading to some school kids at the U.N. but is simultaneously evil about it. “Disrupt this carefully staged media event and my people break your parents’ kneecaps.” — Isaac Mills
Isaac’s rating: 3 out of 5
JSA vs. Kobra: Engines of Faith #2
Eric S. Trautmann (w), Don Kramer (p), Michael Babinski (i). DC Comics.
The art is beautiful and it has a REALLY smart plot. This would make a really cool spy movie. But it just isn’t that compelling. It’s what happens when you spend the first two issues with your heroes getting pantsed by the bad guys. We’ll see how the next issue goes. — Isaac Mills
Isaac’s rating: 3 out of 5
The Last Resort #1
Jimmy Palmiotti & Justin Gray (w), Giancarlo Caracuzzo (a). IDW Publishing.
I hadn’t planned on picking up this book, but the covers by Amanda Conner and Darwyn Cooke caught my eye and I thought I’d give it a shot (I ended up going with the Conner cover, as she’s my fiancée’s favourite comics artist, but they were both great). I’m glad I did, too, as this comic is pretty great! I love this style of first issue, where you are slowly introduced to all the characters so that when events start to happen at the end of the issue you actually care; I hate when you’re just thrown into an action sequence with no connection to anyone involved. These are interesting characters and I can’t wait to see what happens to them. – Owen Craig
Owen’s rating: 3.5 out of 5
Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers #3
Chris Eliopoulos (w), Ig Guara (a). Marvel Comics.
Are you reading this series? No? Then what are you doing noodling around on your computer?! Get your butt to your nearest comic book store and buy the entire series (3 out of 4 issues so far). You, all your friends and your creepy next-door neighbour need to read this. If only to see Disapproving Frog Thor. If you haven’t read it by next week, consider yourself in the doghouse. — Anya Lipchak
Anya’s rating: 4.5 out of 5
Owen’s rating: 4 out of 5
Mighty Avengers #27
Dan Slott, Christos N. Gage (w), Khoi Pham (p), Allen Martinez (i). Mavel Comics.
I’m trying so hard to like this comic. So very hard. I love Dan Slott and I love the cast but something is just not clicking for me. In the case of this particular issue it may be the use of the Inhumans, characters that I find spectacularly dull (except in Sean McKeever’s awesome but short Inhumans book). I suspect it may be the sheer volume of continuity and techno-babble being thrown at me that is keeping me from getting into this book, but for whatever reason I think I need to take a break from it. I’ll be back to check in after this Inhumans arc is over to see if this comic and I are clicking better. – Owen Craig
Owen’s rating: 2 out of 5
New Mutants #3
Zeb Wells (w), Diogenes Neves (p), Cam Smith with Norman Lee (i), Marvel Comics.
Two awesome things about this comic. First, Sunspot is all pumped to fight Legion until Legion shifts personalities to an extremely depressed woman and screams “Nobody loves me!”, and Sunspot halts and shrugs his shoulders, saying, “I have no idea what to say to that.” before getting pummelled. The second awesome thing was when Illyana Rasputin aka Magik goes to enter the shattered psyche of Legion and she’s being told she can’t harm any of the personalities inside lest something terrible happen. So when she’s inside and the literal “legion” inside Legion are laughing at her because they know she isn’t allowed to harm them, she whips out an energy sword and cuts a bunch of guys in half. She does what she wants, and it can definitely be pretty cool. — Isaac Mills
Isaac’s rating: 3 out of 5
Rasl #5
Jeff Smith (w), Jeff Smith (a). Cartoon Books.
Rasl is the kind of book that is fantastic in a way that seems effortless. I always end up reading it and saying to myself, “Why aren’t more books this good? It’s not that hard: developed characters, compelling plot, set a mood and add a conflict”. Of course it’s not easy, Jeff Smith is just that good. Even with months between issues, every time a new one comes out I’m immediately engrossed and can’t wait for the next one. This comic is a must-buy. – Owen Craig
Owen’s rating: 5 out of 5
Timestorm 2009/2099 #3
Brian Reed (w), Eric Battle (p), Drew Hennessy (i). Marvel Comics.
I’m not terribly interested in this comic at this point — which has been pretty much the case since they messed with the story of Spider-Man 2099. They went into the history of the 2099 Human Torch — a bombastic Atlantean who enjoys Spider-Man 2099’s idea of escaping from their prison without killing anyone because it would be like tying an arm behind his back to overcome the challenge. Oh, those Atlanteans, they sure know how to have a good time. — Isaac Mills
Isaac’s rating: 2.5 out of 5
X-Factor #46
Peter David (w), Marco Santucci (p), Pat Davidson (i). Marvel Comics.
I have no idea what’s going on in this series anymore. I’m not even sure what happened in this issue. While I enjoy it, I’m so confused that at times I feel like I could take it or leave it. Still, as my fiancé pointed out, if we stop buying the book so soon after the “shocking” man-on-man kiss it might seem like we’re dropping it in protest. If anything, I want to see more gay smooching in comics. Like Nightcrawler and Gambit, maybe? Pretty please? — Anya Lipchak
Anya’s rating: 3 out of 5
Owen’s rating: 3 out of 5
Crossover Corner
How important is this issue to Blackest Night? Enjoy our special “crossover relevance” rating scale: Essential, A Pleasant Addition, Take It or Leave It, Adds Nothing, or Completely Unrelated
Blackest Night #1
Geoff Johns (w), Ivan Reis (p), Oclair Albert (i). DC Comics.
This comic packs a punch, there’s no doubt about that. Whether or not you enjoyed the punch, well, that will probably depend heavily on how much you like Geoff Johns’ writing style. Johns is known for the severe violence in his books, but what ranks his work amongst my favourites (and what I feel he doesn’t get enough credit for) is the character-building going on as the violence happens. In this case, much of the issue is spent portraying the way the characters in the DC universe deal with death before the dead start rising. It makes for an intriguing first issue that earns its climax, I feel. After two disappointing events I have high hopes for this one after the first issue. – Owen Craig
Owen’s rating: 4 out of 5
Owen’s crossover rating: Essential
Isaac’s rating: 4.5 out of 5
Isaac’s crossover rating: Essential
Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps #1
Geoff Johns, Peter J. Tomasi, (w), Jerry Ordway, Chris Samnee, Rags Morales (a). DC Comics.
We finally get the origin story for Saint Walker of the Blue Lantern Corps, which is something I’ve been waiting on for about a year now. It’s a story about hope and faith, which just naturally makes sense for these blue guys that ostensibly get their power from concentrated hope — and it’s illustrated by Jerry Ordway, who’s fantastic. There’s a story about Mongul (I guess back from when he was Mongul Junior, living under the tyrannical reign of Mongul Senior) that is about his dreaming of growing into a powerful force in the future. It’s a cartoony style but is a lot of fun, and just makes things far more sinister when you stop to think about what this cute little kid is all about. Plus there’s a tale of the Indigo Corps, but it doesn’t really shed much light on who they are. All in all, it’s a great value of a book, and I’m definitely getting the next installment. — Isaac Mills
Isaac’s rating: 4 out of 5
Isaac’s crossover rating: A Pleasant Addition
Owen’s rating: 3.5 out of 5
Owen’s crossover rating: A Pleasant Addition
