Week 2 Roundup

As this is the second consecutive week of rounding shtuff up, please enjoy my brief reviews of some of this past week's comics!

Spider Island Daily Bugle #1 - This was a fun little freebie for the week. Essentially it was a tease at what's to come in Spider-Man's home town NYC in the near future. Basically all of Manhattan becomes plagued with Spider-powered citizens, who know little of consequences and less about responsibilities. It's aptly titled Spider-Island. Anyway, this is presented in the form of the Daily Bugle, the fictional newspaper giant of the Marvel universe. Overall 10/10 (cuz its free!) Thanks Dan Slott!!

Uncanny X-Men #540 - Written by Kieron Gillen and penciled by Greg Land. A lot of people read this book simply for Kieron Gillen's writing. Many are offput by Greg Land's artistic style. I'm no fan of it, but I surely don't think it's bad! Sometimes he has the tendency to make people look incredibly Asian (like Brock from Pokémon) when they smile and that's very annoying, but I get over it. This issue was seriously thought provoking. How do you stop an unstoppable force that's infused with an entity of fear? Overall: 8/10

Batman and Robin #25b - I got the variant cover. I like variant covers and this one's just pretty. Written by Judd Winick and penciled by Greg Tocchini and Andy Smith. The artwork is great and the banter between Jason, Dick and Damian is fantastic. That girl that they're rescuing, Sasha, is easily one of the mofugliest bishes I ever did see in a comic. I mean... poor thing! YOU need a mask. Overall: 9/10

Hulk #36 - Written by Jeff Parker and penciled Patch Zircher. The Red Hulk gets possessed by Zzzax!!! Anyway, don't buy this. I really disliked it. Basically it was all M.O.D.O.K. just monologuing. Overall: 3/10

X-Men #14 - Written by Christopher Yost and penciled by Paco Medina and Dalibor Talajic. The artists did a great job at complimenting each other as they switched back and forth. Medina drew the present and Dalibor drew the past panels. The story arc included the ancient Evolutionaries. Great story, complimented by great arc. The cover doesn't do anything for me though. Overall: 8/10

Herc #3 - Written by Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente and pencils by Scott Hanna and Neil Edwards. Despite the overall cheesiness, I somewhat enjoyed this issue. But it got to a point where it was so bad that it made me angry! Why on earth would anyone say 'No sleep 'til Brooklyn!' in a legitimate conversation? And also. Why why why would a Greek goddess start speaking in Latin? Or are we all so ignorant that we wouldn't know the difference? Ugh... This issue came out a few months ago, but I got it this week. Overall: 3/10

Titans Annual #1 - Written by Eric Wallace and penciled by Cliff Richards. Truly great storyline. The family feud between Iris and Osiris was great. The maniacal plot of Deathstroke. The emotions running through every character... So great. And the art was incredibly consistent and very well done. The cover is misleading. JLA and the Titans do not actually go against each other. Well worth the $4.99. This is my pick of the week. Overall: 10/10

DC Universe Online Legends #11 - Written by Marv Wolfman and penciled by Mike S. Miller. As the 11th issue of this run by Marv Wolfman comes around, I'm glad it's starting to make a little more sense. Although this is completely non-canonical from anything in the DCU, it's still a fun read. Lois turns muscley... Overall 7/10

Week 1 Roundup

So what am I rounding up, on "Week 1"? Comics! I've decided that since this is the first week I started my Twitter feed, it's the first week I can round up all my reviews into one post. I plan on this being a weekly event, unless of course, life gets in the way, but we'll see! So this week we had:

The Amazing Spider-Man #664 - Written by Dan Slott and penciled by Giuseppe Camuncoli. Revolves around the plot that the Anti-Venom ties up Spider-man to, in his own twisted way, prove that he's the good guy and not crazy, and take down Mr. Negative on his own. Stuff goes wrong in classic Spider-Man style, and it came out to a good read! Overall, a 9/10!

Detective Comics #878 - Written by Scott Snyder and penciled by Jock. Dick Grayson, as Batman, has been trapped by Tiger Shark, who we learn is from some line of ancient mystical royalty. The story is told, just as a detective would take his notes: well. Overall, an 8/10!

Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #11 - Written by Peter J. Tomasi and penciled by Bernard Chang. Now, I've never been a fan of Guy Gardner, particularly because he's a douchebag, but I must give credit for a job well done in this issue. He succesfully died and came back to life! Anywho. Overall, a 6/10.

Justice Society of America #52 - Written by Marc Guggenheim and penciled by Tom Derenick. I guilt myself for never taking a liking to this supergroup in the past, but I think I'll make it an effort to read more into them. This book takes us to a story about a mysterious door that leads to a forgotten city; a City of Evil! Originally apprehensive about the art, but it grew on me. Has an old time feel! Overall, a 6/10.

Namor: The First Mutant #11 - Written by Stuart Moore and penciled by Carlos Rodriguez. Namor's a new concept to my palette, but I've grown to like the many facets he caries, and Moore has brought out the plights of a solid character, although his actions may at times be rash. Not sure if this is the last issue, it ended with epic finality... Hope not! Overall, a 7/10.

Uncanny X-Men #539 - Writen by Kieron Gillen and penciled by Ibraim Roberson. I'm really craving some more involvement with Hope and her mutant team with the X-Men and I got it with this issue. She seems to be coming into her own character and is worthy of her own book, but was a warm welcome back to Uncanny X-Men. I previously described the art by Roberson as "watercolor with a hint of life" and I'm sticking tho that. It felt soothing and real. Overall, a 9/10!

The Walking Dead #86 - Written by Robert Kirkman and penciled by Charlie Adlard. Always a worthwhile read, The Walking Dead lives up to it's name. Circling the story more around the lives of those who've survived into a post-apocalyptic zombie infested world than on the zombies themselves, Robert Kirkman has himself a steady ongoing gem. Full page spread near the end by Richard Adlard was fantastic! Overall, a 7/10.

(Hehe, I reviewed them in alphabetagammical order!)