DoctorFinger
11-09-2008, 01:21 PM
Welcome to Week Five of the Official Colony of Gamers Comic Book Reviews
Remember, these are NOT spoiler-free reviews.
Colony of Gamer’s Weekly Comic Book Reviews – Year 1 – Week 5
Ultimatum #1 (of 5)
Reviewed By: Michael "Doctor Finger" Chauvet
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Writer: Jeph Loeb
Penciller: David Finch
Inker: Danny Miki
Colorist: Steve Firchow
Letterer: Richard Starkings
Editor: Ralph Macchio & Mark Paniccia
$3.99
http://colonyofgamers.com/images/comics/Ultimatum-1.jpg
Three Kings
"For what they have done, they will pay the Ultimate price."
This line has, in some form or another, been in just about every Marvel coming out the last few months. They've obviously put a lot of marketing muscle behind this event, but is it more like the 'classic' Ultimate U, full of innovation, importance and fun, or like the new one, which seems to have been running in place for most of the past 2 years?
In this first issue we get the core conflict of Ultimatum: a massive tidal wave that strikes New York City, devastation it. This attack is symbolic of many things, not the least of which is a Golden Age battle between Namor and the original Human Torch which is generally believed to be the first comic crossover of all time. The attack hits the city, and leaves cast members of every book dead. Dazzler, Beast, Nightcrawler, Doctor Storm and The Wasp all die in the initial strike. While New York is hit with a wave, Doctor Doom finds his land and his people frozen under a blanket of ice, with his loyal aides apparently killed in the attack. Reed Richards survives the attack, but Sue Storm falls into a coma after trying to use her powers to save the city. Reed immediately knows who the prime suspect it, and confronts Namor, who denies involvement, but gets zapped into unconsciousness anyway. It takes Charles Xavier to fill in the blanks, the attack was perpetrated by Magneto, who sits on a throne in his floating base, with what appears to be Thor's Mjolnir resting next to him. "For what they have done, they will pay the Ultimate price."
In a lot of ways this is Event Book 101: clear the board of some dead wood, and set the stage for some terror, all in an attempt to make the antagonist of the piece seem like an insurmountable threat. Loeb killed off a bunch of frankly B list characters in furtherance of that goal, which I'm normally not a fan of, but the characters being offed haven't been used to any great shakes for a while now, so they're no great loss. But making Magneto into a Grade-A badass? That's a worthy goal, in my opinion. Magneto's exact motivations are still a bit unclear. Coming out of Ultimates 3 he was understandably angry over the deaths of his children, and coming out of Ultimate Origins he may be understandably upset that mutants were in fact made by humans. But you'd have to read other books to know this, so to a new reader, his motivations are clear as mud. Finch as usual skirts the line between style and substance. He does some great work, but nothing feels inspired or exceptional. I will once again point out the $4 pricetag doesn't include any extra material whatsoever, the same 32 pages you get in every other comic.
Bottom Line:
An impressive start to the event, but it needed a little more meat on the bone.
CoG Says: "Love It!" (4 out of 5 Cogs)
<img src="http://www.colonyofgamers.com/images/CoG4.png" border="0" alt="" />
X-Men & Spider-Man #1 (of 4)
Reviewed By: Michael "Doctor Finger" Chauvet
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Writer: Christos Gage
Artist: Mario Alberti
Letterer: Jared K. Fletcher
Editor: Stephen Wacker
$3.99
http://colonyofgamers.com/images/comics/XM-SM-1.jpg
The Stranges Teens of All
What's that old saying? Two great tastes, that taste great together? Well how about two of the most valuable and popular properties in comics, teaming up. It seems like a no brainer, but for whatever reason, this hasn't really happened much before, and (as far as I know) not in it's own series.
This story takes place back in ye olden days. The original X-Men are still the only X-Men, and the blonde of Peter Parker's dreams has not yet met her fate on the George Washington Bridge. The X-Men saved the Hulk from the army in Las Vegas, but they're blamed for the attack by the obnoxious J. Jonah Jameson. He brings Kraven the Hunter on TV, and Kraven accuses Spidey of being part of the mutant menace as well. Both he and the X-Men know it's false, but what can they do? Spidey decides to spend a little time out of costume to let the heat die down, and goes out on the town with Gwen Stacy and Mary Jane. At the same time, the X-Men are in their civvies trying to find Spidey so they can offer him their help. They all end up in the same bar, which is when Kraven - who had also been trying to locate Spidey - attacks. Things look bad for him at first, but he brought some big backup: The Blob. The requisite brawl ensues, with both sides getting their licks in. Eventually a combo of webs and ice trap The Blob, but Kraven makes his escape. Turns out Kraven's plan wasn't all that flawed; he brings his employer exactly what he wanted, skin and blood samples from all of the X-Men. Kraven's employer? None other than Mister Sinister.
This book isn't for anyone who insists that every story 'matters.' It is for anyone who wants a quick little brawl involving the Spidey and the X-Men. Later issues will involve other eras of the characters' history, likely with a little Sinister action behind the scenes of all of them. Alberti has a very Italian style to his art, but everything flows nicely, and his action is almost as pretty as his women.
Bottom Line:
A fun romp with through history with two sets of icons.
CoG Says: "Love It!" (4 out of 5 Cogs)
<img src="http://www.colonyofgamers.com/images/CoG4.png" border="0" alt="" />
Quick Hits
Justice Society of America #20 - A return to the Power Girl on Earth-2 storyline, as Kara comes home, and we begin to learn more secrets behind Starman's mission.
Secret Six #3 - The object of everyone's desire is at one time a little absurd, but also wickedly brilliant. Come for the snappy dialogue, stay for the existentialism.
Final Crisis: Resist - They make Snapper Carr not only relevant for the first time in a long time, they also make him a Bond-level badass. Also, good OMACs? Maybe
Remember, these are NOT spoiler-free reviews.
Colony of Gamer’s Weekly Comic Book Reviews – Year 1 – Week 5
Ultimatum #1 (of 5)
Reviewed By: Michael "Doctor Finger" Chauvet
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Writer: Jeph Loeb
Penciller: David Finch
Inker: Danny Miki
Colorist: Steve Firchow
Letterer: Richard Starkings
Editor: Ralph Macchio & Mark Paniccia
$3.99
http://colonyofgamers.com/images/comics/Ultimatum-1.jpg
Three Kings
"For what they have done, they will pay the Ultimate price."
This line has, in some form or another, been in just about every Marvel coming out the last few months. They've obviously put a lot of marketing muscle behind this event, but is it more like the 'classic' Ultimate U, full of innovation, importance and fun, or like the new one, which seems to have been running in place for most of the past 2 years?
In this first issue we get the core conflict of Ultimatum: a massive tidal wave that strikes New York City, devastation it. This attack is symbolic of many things, not the least of which is a Golden Age battle between Namor and the original Human Torch which is generally believed to be the first comic crossover of all time. The attack hits the city, and leaves cast members of every book dead. Dazzler, Beast, Nightcrawler, Doctor Storm and The Wasp all die in the initial strike. While New York is hit with a wave, Doctor Doom finds his land and his people frozen under a blanket of ice, with his loyal aides apparently killed in the attack. Reed Richards survives the attack, but Sue Storm falls into a coma after trying to use her powers to save the city. Reed immediately knows who the prime suspect it, and confronts Namor, who denies involvement, but gets zapped into unconsciousness anyway. It takes Charles Xavier to fill in the blanks, the attack was perpetrated by Magneto, who sits on a throne in his floating base, with what appears to be Thor's Mjolnir resting next to him. "For what they have done, they will pay the Ultimate price."
In a lot of ways this is Event Book 101: clear the board of some dead wood, and set the stage for some terror, all in an attempt to make the antagonist of the piece seem like an insurmountable threat. Loeb killed off a bunch of frankly B list characters in furtherance of that goal, which I'm normally not a fan of, but the characters being offed haven't been used to any great shakes for a while now, so they're no great loss. But making Magneto into a Grade-A badass? That's a worthy goal, in my opinion. Magneto's exact motivations are still a bit unclear. Coming out of Ultimates 3 he was understandably angry over the deaths of his children, and coming out of Ultimate Origins he may be understandably upset that mutants were in fact made by humans. But you'd have to read other books to know this, so to a new reader, his motivations are clear as mud. Finch as usual skirts the line between style and substance. He does some great work, but nothing feels inspired or exceptional. I will once again point out the $4 pricetag doesn't include any extra material whatsoever, the same 32 pages you get in every other comic.
Bottom Line:
An impressive start to the event, but it needed a little more meat on the bone.
CoG Says: "Love It!" (4 out of 5 Cogs)
<img src="http://www.colonyofgamers.com/images/CoG4.png" border="0" alt="" />
X-Men & Spider-Man #1 (of 4)
Reviewed By: Michael "Doctor Finger" Chauvet
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Writer: Christos Gage
Artist: Mario Alberti
Letterer: Jared K. Fletcher
Editor: Stephen Wacker
$3.99
http://colonyofgamers.com/images/comics/XM-SM-1.jpg
The Stranges Teens of All
What's that old saying? Two great tastes, that taste great together? Well how about two of the most valuable and popular properties in comics, teaming up. It seems like a no brainer, but for whatever reason, this hasn't really happened much before, and (as far as I know) not in it's own series.
This story takes place back in ye olden days. The original X-Men are still the only X-Men, and the blonde of Peter Parker's dreams has not yet met her fate on the George Washington Bridge. The X-Men saved the Hulk from the army in Las Vegas, but they're blamed for the attack by the obnoxious J. Jonah Jameson. He brings Kraven the Hunter on TV, and Kraven accuses Spidey of being part of the mutant menace as well. Both he and the X-Men know it's false, but what can they do? Spidey decides to spend a little time out of costume to let the heat die down, and goes out on the town with Gwen Stacy and Mary Jane. At the same time, the X-Men are in their civvies trying to find Spidey so they can offer him their help. They all end up in the same bar, which is when Kraven - who had also been trying to locate Spidey - attacks. Things look bad for him at first, but he brought some big backup: The Blob. The requisite brawl ensues, with both sides getting their licks in. Eventually a combo of webs and ice trap The Blob, but Kraven makes his escape. Turns out Kraven's plan wasn't all that flawed; he brings his employer exactly what he wanted, skin and blood samples from all of the X-Men. Kraven's employer? None other than Mister Sinister.
This book isn't for anyone who insists that every story 'matters.' It is for anyone who wants a quick little brawl involving the Spidey and the X-Men. Later issues will involve other eras of the characters' history, likely with a little Sinister action behind the scenes of all of them. Alberti has a very Italian style to his art, but everything flows nicely, and his action is almost as pretty as his women.
Bottom Line:
A fun romp with through history with two sets of icons.
CoG Says: "Love It!" (4 out of 5 Cogs)
<img src="http://www.colonyofgamers.com/images/CoG4.png" border="0" alt="" />
Quick Hits
Justice Society of America #20 - A return to the Power Girl on Earth-2 storyline, as Kara comes home, and we begin to learn more secrets behind Starman's mission.
Secret Six #3 - The object of everyone's desire is at one time a little absurd, but also wickedly brilliant. Come for the snappy dialogue, stay for the existentialism.
Final Crisis: Resist - They make Snapper Carr not only relevant for the first time in a long time, they also make him a Bond-level badass. Also, good OMACs? Maybe