Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man #3 Review on Read/RANT

My review of Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man #3 is now live on Read/RANT!

http://readrant.wordpress.com/2011/10/21/ultimate-comics-spider-man-3-review/

Gotham Central Book One: In The Line Of Duty Review

Writers: Ed Brubaker & Greg Rucka

Art: Michael Lark

Colours: Noelle Giddings, Matt Hollingsworth & Lee Loughridge

Letters: Willie Schubert

 

I recently picked up Gotham Central Book 1: In The Line Of Duty from my local library and I thought that as I enjoyed it so much I would put a review of it up on here.

I had never heard of this series before and the only reason why I considered picking it up in the first place was due to the Gotham city reference.  I have to say I was in no way disappointed by this books lack of attention on Batman himself, which is odd because I thought I would. Instead I discovered that the lives of the Gotham Central Police Department was just as enthralling and interesting as anything that Batman would be up to. I really liked the idea of a series that gives a view of Gotham that is different from the default view of Batman and this book certainly did not disappoint in that regard. My favourite story from this ten issue trade paperback is probably the very first one, where two cops stumble upon Mr Freeze and one of them gets killed. I think that this story really highlighted just how difficult it is for regular people such as the police to confront these super villains, especially when these bad guys are finally taken out so easily by Batman.

The villains were quite entertaining to read about, my favourite most probably being Two Face; this is because he turns out to be quite pathetic. He goes to such great lengths just to announce his love for Detective Renee Montoya, practically destroying her entire life just so that she would have nothing to leave him for, and then for her to (rightly) flat out reject him made me feel actually a bit sorry for him.

The art within this book works fine for the subject matter. However it never amazed me like some of the new issues I have read from DC’s ‘New 52’. I particularly didn’t really like the depiction of Batman, but this is mainly because I am currently following Daniels’s Detective Comics and love the artwork within that series, especially how Batman looks.

I enjoyed this book so much that I have already reserved Book 2 from the library. I will most probably be reviewing that soon.

Book Rating – 8/10

IDW joins Comixology!

Really good news for IDW fans! IDW have joined the digital comic book provider Comixology and so more of their series are now available digitally, and not at a bad price either! Check out this link for the IGN article on it. http://uk.comics.ign.com/articles/119/1199780p1.html

Action Comics #2 Review

Writer: Grant Morrison

Pencillers: Rags Morales & Brent Anderson

Inkers: Rick Bryant & Brent Anderson

I was really looking forward to the second issue of this rebooted series, and I have to say it did not disappoint.

The cover of this issue is fantastic! I love the image of the angry, tortured Superman. I think that this cover successfully highlights the fact that this Superman is young, angry and most importantly powerful! I really hope that we get more covers that are this impressive and just cool.

Now onto the plot. I loved the story in this issue, it created tension, concern for Superman at times and some very cool action sequences. As a relatively new Superman reader I had never seen the attempted torture of Superman before and even though nothing really worked on him I still managed to feel concern and even tense at times for him. There was even the odd humorous moment, like when Luthor and the scientists accused Superman of being a shape-changer and show him the creature that they thought was his true form. The laughter of the tortured Superman in that moment just shows how ridiculous the notion was. I found it interesting throughout the issue that Luthor kept referring to Superman as ‘it’ and even corrected other people when they said ‘he’ or ‘his’. He was evidently trying to dehumanise him so that he can morally justify his treatment of Superman.

The interior art within this comic book is excellent, Rags and Brent have done a good job. I especially liked the images of Superman being electrocuted and his escape from the chair. Both of these scenes were brilliantly done and were of very high quality.

Overall I think that this was a good second issue, and I actually enjoyed it more than the first one.

Issue Rating: 9/10

Interesting IGN article on whether Marvel need a relaunch or not

In this article from IGN they ask whether Marvel would benefit from pulling a similar stunt like DC’s ‘New 52’. Go and check it out!
http://uk.comics.ign.com/articles/119/1198220p1.html

Detective Comics #2 Review

 

Writing: Tony Salvador Daniel

Inks: Ryan Winn & Sandu Florea

Colours: Tomeu Morey

Lettering: Jared K. Fletcher

Cover: Daniel, Winn & Morey

 

Although quite a striking and cool depiction of Batman I found the cover of this second issue to be decidedly underwhelming. It’s not really the covers fault; it simply followed what I found to be an amazing cover with issue #1; with the Joker staring insanely at the reader which was a hit with me. The main highlight for me is the use of lighting, with the glow of the dashboard and controls glinting off of Batman’s utility belt. Also the use of shadow is quite cool with parts of Batman’s chest being obscured and the majority of his exposed face. This suggests to me that the Batman persona is more prevalent and the true personality rather than the Bruce Wayne persona, but hey I may just be thinking too deeply into it all.

I really enjoyed the plot within this issue, although I did prefer the Batman elements to the Bruce Wayne ones. I found the bits with Bruce to be slightly uninteresting but I am more than willing to sit through them to get to the Batman bits. The momentum of the issue got off to a slow start by once Batman was up and about the pace never slackened. I love how dangerous and mysterious the villains seem in this series so far, even more so in regards to the Joker and what he allowed to have done to himself at the end of the last issue. The final page of this issue was of course less shocking and amazing then issue #1’s was but that was always to be expected. However, it was still in my opinion a riveting ending and makes me want to know immediately if Commissioner Gordon is going to survive this and if so if he will ever be the same again. I guess that any ending that raises those types of questions has to be classed as a good finale in anyone’s book.

The interior art overall is of good quality, I don’t think it ever becomes amazing but it is perfectly fine. I do have to admit that I love how Commissioner Gordon looks now, I have only ever seen him as an older man and to see him much more youthful is enjoyable. I also like the lighting and mood in general that this creates; it’s a good fit for this noir series. At times within the issue some of the faces look a bit wrong, such as when Batman is on his motorbike on the two splash page, his face looks really odd and his jaw is massive.

Overall I think that this was a really good issue, not quite as monumental as issue #1 but then it would really have had to pulled out all of the stops to top that. I am really enjoying this series so far and I think Daniels and his team are doing a fantastic job.

Issue Rating: 8/10

Brilliant article on why Miles Morales is THE Spider-Man for today

CBR have just published a fantastic article on why the new Spider-Man Miles Morales is what Spider-Man in the 21st century should be. I urge you all to read it and comment on your thoughts below!
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=34735

Image Comics to go same day digital!

Interesting mini-article from IGN that lists what series from Image will be released digitally on the same day as the physical release. Good news!
http://uk.comics.ign.com/articles/119/1197913p1.html

Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man #2 Review on read/RANT

I have been invited to become the resident Spider-Man reviewer on read/RANT, which I have graciously accepted. Therefore you can find my review of Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man #2 here http://readrant.wordpress.com/2011/10/03/ultimate-comics-spider-man-2-review/ If you are interested at all in reading my review of issue #1 the link is https://mycomicbookreviews.wordpress.com/2011/09/21/utimate-comics-spider-man-1-review/.

 

 

 

Intriging IGN article about DC’s mysterious red robed woman

IGN has collected every appearance of the strange red robed woman who has appeared in every issue of DC’s ‘New 52’

http://uk.comics.ign.com/articles/119/1193898p1.html

I highly recommend taking a look, it’s a good read.