Annihilation: Conquest - Starlord #4 - That's a pretty nice cover, though I think I preferred last month's. I think it's the little Starlord in the corner, it throws the tone off for me somehow. It's a nice drawing, just feels out of place, like it's detracting from me taking the dire situation on the cover seriously. Shrug, it's still one of my desktop wallpapers.On the whole, not a bad conclusion to the mini. The team does complete their mission (for now, anyway), which makes that yet another Phalanx conquering strategy down the tubes. Really, Nova was the only one who hasn't put a kink in their big plans, unless you count his inadvertently pulling Gamora along with him when he escaped Kree space. I don't, but you might.
Giffen continues to do a good job of giving the characters distinct voices, and I have to say, his Mantis reminds of Kenshin from the Rurouni Kenshin manga. Probably from her frequent use of the phrase 'this one'. Kenshin was always referring to himself that way. Also, Mantis tends to hold things back until they're necessary, which is a bit Kenshin-like as well. The save the day plan is clever enough, and Giffen does surprise me with one development near the end.
Green II, gives us a few scenes that seem more serious, or maybe it's just me. I think it's the darker shading for example, Peter's face the last panel of page 1. there's a few scenes with mantis as well, where the art seems to move more "realistic". That's fine, and so is the rest, which seems to have a, I don't know, looser feel, where he's going for expression, and that's fin too. Minor quibble: there is one panel where Gabe's mask (what's left of it) is on the right side of his face, when it's been on the left side throughout the rest of the book. I should also mention I think Giffen did a good job of getting some exposition in, just in case someone stumbled into the mini-series late. 4.1 out of 5.
Annihilation: Conquest #1 - Quasar's eye is the first thing I notice on that cover, and it's freaking me out a little. Stop judging me, Phyla! I'm supporting the mini-series, why won't you look upon me with favor?Phyla and Heater attempt to get the Sav - oh right, I already showed you it was Adam Warlock, attempt to get Adam Warlock up to speed on what's happening, why they're here, etc. Warlock, not too interested in all that, explains why he was in a cocoon, which doesn't make much sense to me, but I guess it works. They are attacked, fighting, escape, Surprise Reveal #1. Phalanx report back, we know who's behind the Phalanx, and let's just call that Surprise Reveal #2. Let me also say, I am now fully prepared to take the Phalanx seriously as a threat, and I really doubt Adam Warlock can save anybody.
Other thoughts: Abnett and Lanning seem to be suggesting less free will for those brought into the Phalanx. The Kree really do seem dead inside, whereas in Nova and Starlord, they've shown a bit more personality. I suppose it could be the circumstances, the Phalanx probably assert more control when. . . processing the Kree.
Raney's art surprised me a little bit. It wasn't what I was used to from that horrible "Return of Captain Mar-Vell" issue he drew, or the Exiles Annual he did. It's darker, which I suppose can be owed to the tone, and while there were certain things I recognized (his Blastaar is reminiscent of his Ultimate Sabretooth), it had a lot of the grimy darkness I associate with David Finch, and a little of something that seemed, McNivenish? Man, I'm bad at talking art. I do think Raney draws Moondragon too small. She's a dragon big enough to ride, pump up the size, closer to the size of Surprise Reveal #1! He does express Adam Warlock's varied emotions well. I'm not sure how to grade this. I'm not sure it had enough forward momentum, but the Surprise Reveals were certainly surprising, and I really want to know what they're each up to here. 3.5 out of 5.
Faith the Vampire Slayer #8 - Man at this rate I'll never finish these reviews. It's not a bad cover, but I probably should have asked for the other one. I'm not in much of a "Look at Faith drown Buffy" mood, which is unusual. I suppose it's because if Buffy died, there would be lots of issues about everyone being sad, and I'd just want to retch. Though I suppose that would be pointless, since I probably wouldn't be buying them anyway, but whatever.Gigi fills Faith in on her plan, Buffy confers with Willow about future attacks from soldier people, Gigi has plan put into action, Faith tries to save the day, Buffy acts like a pain in the ass, then gets saved, while Faith gets left holding the bag. She never seems to catch a break.
BKV's doing a great job getting Faith's personality out there, though I imagine it works best if you have a familiarity with the character. But her past difficulties, as a Slayer, and even before that, the complicated feelings she has towards Buffy, it all gets summed up so well, and so quickly. You get a view of a wide range of the aspects of Faith's personality. And he keeps the Buffy plot moving at least a little in the background each issue, which is a nice touch.
As for Jeanty, I'm digging the art. It's unusual to see Faith as the more conservatively dressed of a pair of Slayers, but it works to emphasize the differences between the two, along with some other things, like Faith's tattoo, which is noticeable in comparison to Gigi, who doesn't have a mark on her. The fight was brief, but fun and well-drawn, though sometimes I think there's too much empty panel space around the characters, especially since the room was empty. There's something about it that bothers me, but I can't put my finger on it, so maybe later this week. 4.2 out of 5.
Immortal Iron Fist #10 - I may be getting a little tired of the divided covers. This one doesn't grab me. This issue shows us part of why Davos hates the Rand's, we get a token tournament bout, and a bunch of stuff about potential unrest in K'un-Lun. And HYDRA does something involving attack aircraft, that was kind of nifty.I want more punchy-punchy, less political intrigue, so this issue is not the best for me. I can appreciate Fraction and Brubaker adding layers, but it feels as if the layers are becoming quicksand, because forward momentum is being lost. Now there's something going with Lei Kung and the Prince of Orphans, and August Personage in Jade has got a bug up its ass about Danny, and I think I may be losing track of who's pissed at whom about what. It's still intriguing, and I want to see how things turn out, but. . .
And Aja's art is still good. The use of contrast in some of the panels is especially nice. But the issue as a whole doesn't equal the entertainment value I got from the books I've already reviewed, so 2.7 out of 5.
Warbird #21 - I think I'm better off just saying nothing about that cover, except the aliens left hand seem oddly positioned. It seems like it should be more under the leg for holding Carol up, less on the side. But I don't spend a lot of time hoisting people above my head so what the hell do I know?Carol fights alien. Agent Sum and Aaron Stack fight alien. Alien communicates with Carol inside her mind. Things go poorly. Carol wakes up in a bad place, finds out situation is even worse than she thinks. Aaron Stack uses an LMD to replace damaged body. Sight of his head on said LMD horribly scars my mind. Team prepares to go after Carol, minus the Avengers they were hoping for, who can't show for. . . some reason. Conclusion: The Mighty Avengers are worthless.
Reed continues to put Carol through difficult times, but I suppose she handled them fairly well. When she wakes up in an unexpected location, she maintains calm, is willing to try something she rejected earlier. So that's good. Her team seems to be doing their best to help her, which at least shows she's earned their loyalty (but where's Rick Sheridan?), and heck, Carol even gets called out for recent decisions. Whether that will cause a change in her long-term, no idea, but it can't hurt to have someone confront her about erratic behavior. Lopresti resumes his solid work with the fight scenes, and the general mayhem of the issue, so I'm glad to see him back after last month's absence. 3.0 out of 5.
Maybe I should just stop scoring them. That might be the best course. Numerical assessments of an artistic piece seem too stringent.
3 comments:
Something is nagging me about Carol's pose on the cover. I SWEAR that I've seen that before in an old X-men book, where they are fighting Belasco, and this big demon named S'ym picks up Wolverine in EXACTLY the same pose...except his shirt is torn off.
There really doesn't seem to be much point to this, but it was fun going through the boxes to see for sure.
Oh, and I love your reviews.
Iron Fist did seem a little exposition-heavy. But it wasn't until I was on my second read that I realizzed that the title character wasn't even in the book, so I guess that means it was pretty good. Plus, the set-up basically promises Hydra vs. Luke Cage & the Daughters of the Dragon next issue, so I'll allow it.
A: Conquest's big reveal really amped up my own excitement for the series. My biggest problem up till now was that Phalanx, while used well, just weren't on the same level as Annihilus. They've cleared that up well.
Star Lord was good too, but I would've liked a few pages on Gabe's full back-story. Hopefully Team Star Lord will live beyond Conquest. Though I have to say, I was almost disappointed that "only" one member of the team died. Just a little.
sallyp: Hmm. I wonder if it's an homage, or just happenstance?
And thanks for the kind words.
jason: If next issue of IIF gives us big-time DoD/Cage vs. HYDRA, that would be awesome.
I think you're right about Conquest. I felt like within the confines of Kree Space the Phalanx were a serious threat, if only because escaping was so difficult. Now I see them as a more legitimate universal threat, if they plan to go that way.
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