004-Comic Book Reviews for 5/3, 5/10, and 5/17/06

I think that at this point, by far my favorite hobby of mine is Comic Books. It's my favorite way to read a story, and story is the key word nowadays. To most people who don't read comic books anymore, comics were always about the art. People always talked about how so and so was an amazing artist. The story was never really talked about, because quite frankly the stories sucked. I mean sure there was and is Frank Miller, Alan Moore, and Neil Gaiman, but that was pretty much where the good storytellers ended*. Art destroyed comics in the late 90's, people were gobbling up variant covers, and whatever new title by whatever hot artist. Just as few as 15 years ago the #1 selling comic in the country would sell well into the millions of copies. Now a #1 selling book is lucky to hit 300,000 copies. However, this is not such a bad thing, as comics are kind of in an upswing and writers are taking center stage. We have Brian Michael Bendis, Mark Millar, Greg Rucka, Ed Brubaker, David Mack, and countless others writing amazing stories in comics.

So with that said I am going to write reviews for the comics I read. Now I mail order my comics and they only come once every 2 weeks (or in the case of May with 5 Wednesdays after the first 3 weeks) so you will only have to sit through a review post every 2 weeks. I am going to use an out of 5 rating system, which I have put a handy guide for over there on the left. (Told you my html skills were going to get better.)

* I know there were others I am just trying to get to my point.

So without further ado reviews for the comics I read in the first 3 weeks of May.

Civil War #1(of 7) Marvel Comics
Writer: Mark Millar
Artist: Steve McNiven


Civil War has begun in the Marvel Universe. Spiraling out of the events of 2004's Avengers Dissasembled(which I liked) and 2005's House of M(which I loved) comes Marvel's next big universe altering series. Civil War begins with a bang, literally when a group of "superheroes" who have their own reality show decide to take out some heavy duty villians who escaped from prison just after the events of Avengers Dissasembled. Nitro a villian who can explode and apparently not die decides to make himself 'splode real good, killing almost 1000 innocent people. This gives us Marvel's version of 9/11(although the terrorist attacks did happen in the Marvel U. and were touched upon briefly in Amazing Spider-Man) This attack combined with the sudden deaths/disappearances of millions of mutants(during House of M) pushed the country too far, and now the government decides it's time to get involved in the affairs of superheroes.

The governement decides that it's time to make the heroes register, train and become paid employees of the United States. Half really seem to dig the idea in the wake of the tragedy while the other half believes the idea will never fly. Thus bringing upon themselves a Civil War. When the half who agree have to take the half who don't into custody the sparks will fly.

The book got lots of mainstream media coverage(ABC News, NPR, etc.) on the eve of it's release, and with good reason. The series will tackle civil rights, the deaths of innocents, reporters covering the war, and many other real life situations. It will definately shake up the Marvel Universe for years to come, and currently affects many Marvel titles and will continue to do so for many months. After issue one I am definately coming along for the ride. 5/5

The Punisher #33 Max Comics
Writer: Garth Ennis
Artist: Goran Parlov


In the 3rd part of the Barracuda arc Frank "The Punisher" Castle meets the Barracuda who has been hired to kill him by a corporation that's up to know good. See The Punisher knows their dirty little secrets and send the Barracuda out to silence him. When they meet fairly early on in the issue(page four), a non stop fight breaks our for rougly the remainder of the issue. Since The Punisher is a Max book it can get away with anything. The violence is over the top, and I don't know who this Gorlan Parlov guy is, but his artwork matches up quite nicely. This is definately shaping up to be one of Ennis' best arcs on The Punisher ever, which is saying a lot seeing as how The Punisher is pretty much Ennis' character at this point. 3/5

Ultimate Spider-Man #94 Marvel Comics
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Mark Bagley


Ultimate Spider-Man is by far one of my favorite titles and am always glad to see it when I open my box of comics. It's amazingly emotional, and has caused me to gasp, flinch, laugh, and even feel sad for the characters. Many people will say that when Bendis' career in comics is said and done(which hopefully won't be anytime soon) he will be defined for his work on Daredevil(which was amazing), but I think it should be for this. For 94 straight issues and counting Bendis and Bagley have OWNED these characters. You would think they live with these characters and they just hang out, and then Bendis goes to his computer and types out the day.

This is the fourth issue in the Deadpool arc, and the action just keeps heating up. Spidey and his new girlfriend (Ultimate X-Men's Kitty Pride) along with the rest of the Ultimate X-Men are tricked into going to an island where a reality show is filmed where Deadpool and his group of Reavers kill off people who have commited crimes. They have never put up a fight so Ultimate Mojo(a very well done Ultimate adaption by the way) decides the X-Men are criminals and it's time to kill them off, and because it would make for a great show with huge ratings. The arc is four issues in and Spidey and the gang finally finish off Deadpool and his Reavers and head towards the control room(house) to face off against Mojo. Yeah, it took four issues to get to this point, but it never felt like it was ever dragging, and I look forward to the next issue. 3/5

X-Men Deadly Genesis #6(of 6) Marvel Comics
Writer: Ed Brubaker
Artist: Trevor Hairsine


The final issue of the pseudo House of M aftermath miniseries, leaves me feeling kinda empty. Some big revelations were made(which I won't spoil here) and it did change a lot of the status quo for the X-Men, but I really want to know how long they will stick. Alright well I guess to really review this issue I have to spoil the spoil so if you don't wanna know, stay away. Prof. X is no longer a mutant after the events of House of M. That's right, no more powers, no more being crippled either, and after the events of this series according to Cyclops he no longer has ANYTHING to do with the X-Men. It makes me wonder where they are even going to put Xavier now. Where will he possibly fit in the Marvel U? Overall I thought the story was good, it shook things up just enough, and Hairsine's art gets better all the time, but I just don't know if I can follow Brubaker over to Uncanny X-Men when he starts writing it in July with issue #475. So I think the story was a good one and in the aftermath of House of M it made sense, but it was nothing spectacular. 3/5

X-Men: The 198 #5(of 5) Marvel Comics
Writer: David Hine
Artist: Jim Muniz


Another Decimation(what Marvel named the House of M aftermath) X-Men mini comes to an end, and unlike Deadly Genesis this series did nothing for me. David Hine returns to the character he created for District X(Mr. M) making him the defacto leader for The 198. After the events of House of M only 198 mutants remain on Earth and many are brought to (get ready) live in the yard of the X-Mansion where they can be supervised by a government agency called O*N*E* (Office of National Emergency). Well of course some of the mutants don't like being penned in a front yard and anarchy breaks out. The series started off promising but ends on a real sour note. Mr. M takes his followers off the grounds but not before some dude with an octopus with an evil face growing out of his stomach uses whatever his powers are to manipulate the O*N*E* dudes to try and take Mr. M out. Which he succedes in doing. The story ends there and will be continued in Civil War: X-Men, but I think after this dissapointing series I will have to pass. 2/5

Moon Knight #2 Marvel Comics
Writer: Charlie Huston
Artist: David Finch


Now I will admit I never picked up a Moon Knight comic back when Moon Knight first debuted, but I was always intrigued by the character. I do plan on picking up the recently released and just in time Eseential Moon Knight, but after seeing a 6 page preview of Huston and Finch's Moon Knight #1 I knew I had to pick up this book. Issue 1 did not dissapoint on ANY level. It was a shining example of everything a first issue should be. Especially the first issue of a relaunch of an old character. It was accesible to ANYONE, it had amazing artwork, and some winks and nods to old readers.

Issue 2 keeps this tone going, it never lets up. Finch's art is top notch and while he was amazing on Avengers his style is a 110% perfect match for this book. The book opens with an intense(it's well deserving of it's parental advisory warning) battle that explains how Moon Knight got into the "shape" he is in today. It hints at things to come and even reveals a villian. The book is 2 for 2 and has leaped into my top 5 favorite titles right now. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!! 5/5

Wolverine Origins #2 Marvel Comics
Writer: Daniel Way
Artist: Steve Dillon


Many non-comic readers were eager to get into comic shops a few years ago to read the mildly dissapointing Origin, which was to tell the never before told origin of Wolverine. Probably the most debated, controversal, and most important origin in the history of comics. Well thanks to the aftermath of House of M, Wolverine remembers EVERYTHING about his past, and we finally get to see it all unfold in this new monthly series. I am a big Daniel Way fan, and if it wasn't for him I don't know if I would have ever picked up this book, but he is doing a bang up job. I hope that this becomes his book. I don't want to see someone else taking a stab(hehe) at it after 12 issues. I want to know that Way got to carry this book all the way through to it's end.

There is a great potential for disaster here though. I mean will they/can they really tell Wolverine's entire origin? This is slated to be a monthly series and it shows Wolverine's journey to uncover his past, but how long can he be gone for? I mean he is an X-Man after all, but I guess that's never stopped him. Two issues in and I am very much enjoying the series and can't wait to see where it leads him and what secrets to Wolvies past we get to uncover. 4/5