DoctorFinger
12-07-2008, 09:21 AM
Welcome to Week Eight 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 8
Secret Invasion #8 (of 8 )
Reviewed By: Michael "Doctor Finger" Chauvet
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Penciller: Lenil Yu
Inker: Mark Morales
Colorists: Laura Martin
Letterer: Chris Eliopoulos
Editor: Tom Brevoort
$3.99
http://colonyofgamers.com/images/comics/SI-8.jpg
So endeth the war. Well, sort of. Only the first few pages of this issue actually deal with the end of the war; the rest being tidying up the loose ends and setting up stories moving forward. So let's begin with the big developments: most notably the death of The Wasp. At the end of last issue she has been transformed into a last-ditch bio weapon of last resort by theSkrulls . She's dying, and in the process killing everyone around her. Thor has to use his power to push her into the sky before she eventually dissipates. This, royally pisses off the rest of the heroes, who all make a move on Queen Veranke (who I could have sworn died last issue), but the one who actually gets the killshot is Norman Osborne. The rest of the battle is largely academic, as the heroes proceed to put a whuppin on the remaining Skrulls. But Iron Man does make one discovery: a ship in orbit containing all of the humans the Skrulls had copied, including Spider-Woman, the Invisible Woman, Jarvis, Yellowjacket and Mockingbird. But things aren't all good. Jessica Jones realizes that the Jarvis she left her and Cage's baby with is a Skrull, and now they're both gone. Thor is still pissed at Tony Stark over his betrayals during Civil War, and tells Stark that he won't be the only one laying the blame for theSkrull Invasion on his shoulders. Norman Osborne is proclaimed the real hero of the invasion, and with the disbanding of SHIELD (too compromised to continue) he's given the keys toSHIELD's replacement as well as the Initiative and the Avengers themselves. The issue ends with Osborne meeting with the 'Evil Illuminati':Namor, Emma Frost, Dr. Doom, Loki and The Hood.
Lets start with the Death. Janet Van Dyne, aka The Wasp is dead. And if I were a betting man, I'd say that this one will stick for at least a few years, but that doesn't make it a great death. Stories being told about it going forward may give it some weight, but it felt to me like it was a major death for the sake of itself. Iapplaud Secret Invasion for keeping the gratuitous deaths to a minimum, but bumping off the Wasp didn't add much to the story (not to mention that it could be considered deus ex machina, because the only place this was referenced before #7 was one of the tie-in Avenger books). I've been praising Lenil Yu's work throughout this series, but I have to ding him a little here. Things felt a bit rushed, and there were some very unclear parts. Not awful, just a bit below the high standard he'd set in earlier issues. What this issue really does well - and I'm sure this will bug some people - is set the stage for the greater Marvel U going forward. Stark is disgraced, the Initiative is broken, Nick Fury is still paranoid and distrustful, Cage and Jessica are looking for their kid, and most of all the Bad Guys seem to be in charge. In most miniseries' this would offend me, but one of the goals of an event comic is to spawn these sort of new directions.
Bottom Line:
Some people will call this issue slow, but to me it was just right. It wrapped up the story, while planting some fascinating seeds for things going forward.
CoG Says: "Love It!" (4 out of 5 Cogs)
http://www.colonyofgamers.com/images/CoG4.png
X-Men: Noir #1 (of 4)
Reviewed By: Michael "Doctor Finger" Chauvet
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Writer: Fred Van Lente
Artist: Dennis Calero
Letterer: Nate Piekos
Editor: Nathan Cosby
$3.99
http://colonyofgamers.com/images/comics/X-Men-Noir-1.jpg
I get mocked, and not without reason, for my love of the X-Men franchise. I don't apologize for it, because it's really the most versatile property in major comics. As evidenced by this week's offering: X-Men:Noir, an alternate universe tale which transcribes the characters most associated with the franchise to a Phillip Marlow-esque world, sans powers. Most of the big boys are here. Xavier, Magneto, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Cyclops, the Blob, Gambit and of course Jean Grey. Jean is given the role she's most suited to: a corpse. It's her nude body, found floating in the East River with a series of slash marks - in groups of 3 - cut into her, that opens the story. Investigating the murder are veteran detective Fred Dukes and his wet behind the ears partner, PeterMagnus. Peter is the son of NYPD Chief Eric Magnus , and is derisively referred to as the 'crown prince'. Peter wants to be a good cop, but his family is the heart of abuse and corruption in the city. Parallelling Peter's investigation is TomHalloway (the Golden Age hero known as The Angel in the main universe), who is investigating Jean's death for his own shadowy reasons. Both learn that Jean is part of the X-Men, a team of delinquents who lived at Xavier's reform school. Instead of actually reforming them, Xavier teaches them to be better crooks (supposedly). Halloway goes to Rikers to meet Xavier, who engages him in a philosophical discussion. Tom - in costume - goes to the Xavier Institute to investigate, but he's jumped by Hank McCoy, Scott Summers and (I think) Bobby Drake. Scott pulls out a gun and blasts Holloway.
The Noir line is pretty high concept. Taking superheroes and placing them in a 1930's setting, sans all of the things that make them superheroes. In this instance, it's only mildly successful. The cameos - Gambit as a cabaret owner, Bishop as his muscle, and Rogue as a delinquent street kid - were cute, but the overall story is very paint by numbers. The dialogue is good, but too many of the motivations are still murky. Why doesHalloway take an interest in the case? Hell, how does he learn about it? Making Magneto the king of crooked cops, with the Brotherhood as his henchmen, is great, but we just don't get enough from the rest of the characters to float the book. Calero does a very good job on the art, although the oppressive darkness is so overwhelming and omnipresent as to almost cross over into parody (note, the sun did exist in the 1930s).
Bottom Line:
An interesting story, but I can't tell if it's really a good one.
CoG Says: "Borrow It!" (3 out of 5 Cogs)
http://www.colonyofgamers.com/images/CoG3.png
Quick Hits
Cable #9 - A book that plays out more like a chess game, with moves made long ago paying off at unexpected times. That last page, with Bishop standing over a prone Cyclops, gave me chills.
Justice Society of America #21 - The JSA learns just how bad Gog can be, and their gifts are all taken back.
Boys #25 - Best. X-Men Parody. Ever.
Remember, these are NOT spoiler-free reviews.
Colony of Gamer’s Weekly Comic Book Reviews – Year 1 – Week 8
Secret Invasion #8 (of 8 )
Reviewed By: Michael "Doctor Finger" Chauvet
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Penciller: Lenil Yu
Inker: Mark Morales
Colorists: Laura Martin
Letterer: Chris Eliopoulos
Editor: Tom Brevoort
$3.99
http://colonyofgamers.com/images/comics/SI-8.jpg
So endeth the war. Well, sort of. Only the first few pages of this issue actually deal with the end of the war; the rest being tidying up the loose ends and setting up stories moving forward. So let's begin with the big developments: most notably the death of The Wasp. At the end of last issue she has been transformed into a last-ditch bio weapon of last resort by theSkrulls . She's dying, and in the process killing everyone around her. Thor has to use his power to push her into the sky before she eventually dissipates. This, royally pisses off the rest of the heroes, who all make a move on Queen Veranke (who I could have sworn died last issue), but the one who actually gets the killshot is Norman Osborne. The rest of the battle is largely academic, as the heroes proceed to put a whuppin on the remaining Skrulls. But Iron Man does make one discovery: a ship in orbit containing all of the humans the Skrulls had copied, including Spider-Woman, the Invisible Woman, Jarvis, Yellowjacket and Mockingbird. But things aren't all good. Jessica Jones realizes that the Jarvis she left her and Cage's baby with is a Skrull, and now they're both gone. Thor is still pissed at Tony Stark over his betrayals during Civil War, and tells Stark that he won't be the only one laying the blame for theSkrull Invasion on his shoulders. Norman Osborne is proclaimed the real hero of the invasion, and with the disbanding of SHIELD (too compromised to continue) he's given the keys toSHIELD's replacement as well as the Initiative and the Avengers themselves. The issue ends with Osborne meeting with the 'Evil Illuminati':Namor, Emma Frost, Dr. Doom, Loki and The Hood.
Lets start with the Death. Janet Van Dyne, aka The Wasp is dead. And if I were a betting man, I'd say that this one will stick for at least a few years, but that doesn't make it a great death. Stories being told about it going forward may give it some weight, but it felt to me like it was a major death for the sake of itself. Iapplaud Secret Invasion for keeping the gratuitous deaths to a minimum, but bumping off the Wasp didn't add much to the story (not to mention that it could be considered deus ex machina, because the only place this was referenced before #7 was one of the tie-in Avenger books). I've been praising Lenil Yu's work throughout this series, but I have to ding him a little here. Things felt a bit rushed, and there were some very unclear parts. Not awful, just a bit below the high standard he'd set in earlier issues. What this issue really does well - and I'm sure this will bug some people - is set the stage for the greater Marvel U going forward. Stark is disgraced, the Initiative is broken, Nick Fury is still paranoid and distrustful, Cage and Jessica are looking for their kid, and most of all the Bad Guys seem to be in charge. In most miniseries' this would offend me, but one of the goals of an event comic is to spawn these sort of new directions.
Bottom Line:
Some people will call this issue slow, but to me it was just right. It wrapped up the story, while planting some fascinating seeds for things going forward.
CoG Says: "Love It!" (4 out of 5 Cogs)
http://www.colonyofgamers.com/images/CoG4.png
X-Men: Noir #1 (of 4)
Reviewed By: Michael "Doctor Finger" Chauvet
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Writer: Fred Van Lente
Artist: Dennis Calero
Letterer: Nate Piekos
Editor: Nathan Cosby
$3.99
http://colonyofgamers.com/images/comics/X-Men-Noir-1.jpg
I get mocked, and not without reason, for my love of the X-Men franchise. I don't apologize for it, because it's really the most versatile property in major comics. As evidenced by this week's offering: X-Men:Noir, an alternate universe tale which transcribes the characters most associated with the franchise to a Phillip Marlow-esque world, sans powers. Most of the big boys are here. Xavier, Magneto, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Cyclops, the Blob, Gambit and of course Jean Grey. Jean is given the role she's most suited to: a corpse. It's her nude body, found floating in the East River with a series of slash marks - in groups of 3 - cut into her, that opens the story. Investigating the murder are veteran detective Fred Dukes and his wet behind the ears partner, PeterMagnus. Peter is the son of NYPD Chief Eric Magnus , and is derisively referred to as the 'crown prince'. Peter wants to be a good cop, but his family is the heart of abuse and corruption in the city. Parallelling Peter's investigation is TomHalloway (the Golden Age hero known as The Angel in the main universe), who is investigating Jean's death for his own shadowy reasons. Both learn that Jean is part of the X-Men, a team of delinquents who lived at Xavier's reform school. Instead of actually reforming them, Xavier teaches them to be better crooks (supposedly). Halloway goes to Rikers to meet Xavier, who engages him in a philosophical discussion. Tom - in costume - goes to the Xavier Institute to investigate, but he's jumped by Hank McCoy, Scott Summers and (I think) Bobby Drake. Scott pulls out a gun and blasts Holloway.
The Noir line is pretty high concept. Taking superheroes and placing them in a 1930's setting, sans all of the things that make them superheroes. In this instance, it's only mildly successful. The cameos - Gambit as a cabaret owner, Bishop as his muscle, and Rogue as a delinquent street kid - were cute, but the overall story is very paint by numbers. The dialogue is good, but too many of the motivations are still murky. Why doesHalloway take an interest in the case? Hell, how does he learn about it? Making Magneto the king of crooked cops, with the Brotherhood as his henchmen, is great, but we just don't get enough from the rest of the characters to float the book. Calero does a very good job on the art, although the oppressive darkness is so overwhelming and omnipresent as to almost cross over into parody (note, the sun did exist in the 1930s).
Bottom Line:
An interesting story, but I can't tell if it's really a good one.
CoG Says: "Borrow It!" (3 out of 5 Cogs)
http://www.colonyofgamers.com/images/CoG3.png
Quick Hits
Cable #9 - A book that plays out more like a chess game, with moves made long ago paying off at unexpected times. That last page, with Bishop standing over a prone Cyclops, gave me chills.
Justice Society of America #21 - The JSA learns just how bad Gog can be, and their gifts are all taken back.
Boys #25 - Best. X-Men Parody. Ever.