Comic Reviews 2/1/13

My View                                    
David LeBlanc
ComicBkNet@aol.com

David LeBlanc was the Editor of the Comic Book Network Electronic Magazine for
over ten years. He is a life-long fan of comics and moderated online comic book
forums long before the Internet became the place to be. David works part-time at
THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT, the Eisner-winning comic store in Worcester, MA.


REVIEWS

The comics reviewed are chosen by David not by THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT management
or staff. The opinions expressed are his alone. If you have an opposing view you
are welcome to respond to David directly by Email at the address above.


Title: YOUNG AVENGERS
Issue Number: 1
Title Story: Style > Substance
Publisher: Marvel
Writer: Kieron Gillen
Artists: Jamie McKelvie with Mike Norton
Colors: Matthew Wilson
Letters: Clayton Cowles
Price (USD): $2.99
Release Date: NOW ON SALE
Genre: Super Hero

I believe this is the second volume of this title. The last time we saw some of
these characters was in CHILDREN'S CRUSADE in which the Scarlett Witch returned
to mainstream continuity. With that adventure out of the way we open a new
episode in the lives of Wiccan and Hulking - the former the son of Wanda and the
latter a Skrull. These older teenage boys are a couple and Teddy has moved in
with Billy and his foster parents. They have supposedly given up on the hero
life but Teddy has been sneaking out to do some heroics - easy enough when you
can shape shift into anybody like Spider-Man for example. This cause tension
among the two but also opens up an honest dialogue between them wherein Teddy
reveals how deeply he feels for Billy, he is the only thing Teddy has left. So
Billy decides on his own to fix things with his magic powers and as they say in
a popular TV these days magic always comes with a price.  This new version will
feature different characters with no other home in Marvel comics. Noh-Varr,
Marvel Boy, has been ordered to stay away from Earth and the Kree Empire and so
we find him in his bachelor pad, a space cruiser, hooking up with Kate Bishop
aka Hawkeye. She is the non-powered human of the group, which is not yet a
group. Noh-Varr is the cool guy that everyone wants to be like or be with. They
make a nice couple and seem to be having a great time until the Skrulls attack!
Finally we find a younger version of Loki, Kid Loki, who is made aware of
Wiccan's use of magic and appears on the roof of the tenement to try and stop
him. From what we see later this may have been a wise idea but he is interrupted
by Miss America, the Marvel Version of Wonder Girl, a super powered teen that
thinks Loki is up to evil. While Marvel Boy and Hawkeye have their hands full in
space the others will be dealing with the consequences of Wiccan's good
intentions. This is a good introduction to new readers to these characters. The
relationships are dealt with realistically and honestly. Each character has
individuality that comes out through the dialogue and action. At some point the
plots will merge and the teens will be working as a team, that is if Miss
America doesn't kill Loki first. The art is superb enough to be on any major
comic, which this one could become. It is a fresh start for some of the group
and a refreshing chance for us to follow a teen group once again in the Marvel
Universe. This one is bound to be a hit. Get it while you can.

Title: UNCANNY X-FORCE
Issue Number: 1
Title Story: Let It Bleed
Publisher: Marvel
Writer: Sam Humphries
Artist: Ron Garney
Inker: Danny Miki
Colors: Marte Gracia with Israel Gonzalez
Letters: Cory Petit
Cover Artists: Olivier Coipel with Laura Martin
Price (USD): $3.99
Release Date: NOW ON SALE
Genre: Super Hero

I have not been following the previous incarnation of this group. This title is
not to be confused with CABLE AND THE X-FORCE, which is the fugitive squad of
the two. This squad includes Storm, Puck, Psylocke, Cluster - the female clone
of Fantomex and evidently Spiral though in this issue it appears that Betsy and
Spiral would rather fight each other to the death. Through the opening sequences
we learn that Wolverine has asked Psylocke to leave the school but giving her
something else to do. Along the way Storm joins her. Both of their lives have
been turned upside down lately and this unofficial mission will be a diversion
for them. They are off to Los Angeles to look into the sources of a new drug
cult that has the markings of mass mind control. It is called Tao, which is an
acronym for Together As One. The drug makes you susceptible to a hive mind
mentality. The request for help to look into this is revealed to be none other
than Puck, the Canadian former hero with Alpha Flight. The action in this issue
starts when Puck leads the two to an abandoned bank building where apparently
Spiral has been dancing and selling the drug to the locals. Not one for subtlety
when it comes to Spiral Betsy attacks immediately. Using the distraction Puck
and Storm head for the vault and learn the possible secret behind the crowd also
suddenly attacking Psylocke. Not to be forgotten we get a brief look at what
Fantomex and Cluster are up to. This is one of those titles that has to approach
a new beginning carefully. Some of the characters have a history that has to be
touched on but can't be explored in too much detail. Thus Betsy seems to be the
main focus in flashbacks including Spiral, Fantomex and her previous life in X-
Force. It also has to establish its own reason for existence and bring in the
new members. Puck serves up the logical plot devise while Spiral is mixed in but
it is a mystery whether she can join a team such as this. Fantomex is given
panel time almost as an afterthought with nothing connecting to the others right
now. And just to cause some future plot twists or momentum the last page
introduces someone else on the cover, the warrior from the future, Bishop. His
story has not begun either, he just shows up elsewhere suddenly declaring he is
back. Long time readers of the X-books will probably get a kick out of yet
another team of mutants and the like, especially if some of them are not the
best of friends. New readers can get by without much knowledge of the past and
follow the story easily enough. I am not sure there is enough here to grab my
interest for long but I am willing to give it a chance.

Title: EMPOWERED SPECIAL
Issue Number: 3
Title Story: Hell Bent or Heaven Sent
Publisher: Dark Horse
Creator: Adam Warren
Writer: Adam Warren
Artists: Ryan Kinnaird (color pages) with Adam Warren (black and white pages)
Letters: Nate Piekos with Adam Warren
Cover Artist: Ryan Kinnaird with Adam Warren
Price (USD): $3.99
Release Date: NOW ON SALE
Genre: Super Hero Parody

I have been curious about EMPOWERED for some time now, mainly due to the appeal
of Adam Warren's art. When I saw this Special on the rack I decided to take a
look. What I found was a very enjoyable comic. It doesn't take long to figure
out that this is a send up of the stereotypical female super hero with sex
appeal to pander to the fan boys. The good thing is Warren makes no bones about
it. He admits it in the recap page on the inside cover. Empowered is super
heroine with a very fragile super suit that gives her her powers but seems to
get torn up an awful lot. She has a boyfriend and best friend and belongs to a
group called the Superhomeys though she is at the bottom of the totem pole with
them. For purposes of the plot she is given monitor duty in the disposal portal,
the place where all the trash they create in their fights with bad guys ends up.
Teammate Capitan Rivet is her escort to this dumping ground of leftover
vilainware and surplus supercrap. She is relieving Mechanismo a former human
that now has a nanoware mecha body. He was transformed by a lady robot's
sexually transmitted nanodisease and still craves his former human life. That is
the hook that drives the plot. It seems that his desires have caused him to
create a virtual reality wherein he can enjoy the pleasures of the flesh but
unwittingly the nanotech virus has used this as a portal to infect the junkyard
and turn everything in it into female angels that can only say, "sexy time" over
and over. Even Capitan Rivet is infected and transformed into a female version.
There are also devil girls that attack everything in sight. Fortunately for
Empowered her super suit protects her from being infected though the laser beams
from the devil girls are having the expected shredding effect on her suit.
Unfortunately for everyone the storage vault has a built-in failsafe that will
transport the entire vault into the heart of the sun if any bad stuff, like a
nanovirus, threatens to breach the walls. It will be up to Empowered to figure
out a way to stop the virus before they are all thrown into the sun. The book
flashes back and forth in time with flashbacks in black and white. The art is
appealing though maybe a tad too suggestive for younger readers. There are a few
humorous surprises along the way making the whole thing fun from start to end. I
found this comic to be a real hoot and easily accessible for everyone. If you
are curious, as I was a recommend you pick up this Special and see what it is
all about. 

Title: BORDERLANDS
Issue Number: 1
Title Story: Roland
Title Arc: Origins
Publisher: IDW
Writer: Mikey Neuman
Artist: Augustin Padilla
Colors: Esther Sanz
Letters: Shawn Lee
Price (USD): $3.99
Release Date: NOW ON SALE
Genre: Science Fiction/Software Adaptation

This comic is based on the role-playing shooter game from Gearbox Software,
although you wouldn't know that from the comic. I guess IDW counts on gamers
knowing the game and wanting the comic or comic readers just looking for another
sci-fi comic. There is a back-story, which you can find easily enough on
Wikipedia. But since this is a comic book some folks won't even though about the
connection. So how does it measure up on its own? Visually the art is fairly
decent though the style takes some getting used to. This series is apparently
character studies of the main characters - this one centering on Roland, the
soldier. He is a sergeant on a far away planet. His squad of four is relaxing as
the boss, a civilian named Higgins, takes Roland off to the side and confronts
him about reading a classified file. They are on a mission here for the Atlas
Corporation. Higgins clearly is keeping secrets from Roland and his team and
Roland does not trust him. His suspicions are proved out when the mission they
are sent on turns out to be a trap. I did not find this comic to be all that
interesting. The plot is thin and obvious. The rest is just banter among the
squad. There is an action sequence fighting alien creatures is not very well
choreographed and leads into the climax in a surprising way, the only really
dramatic part of the story. Even the ending is too subtle to understand unless
you are looking for something. I finally got it the third time around. Roland
does stand out as a tough guy who perseveres in the end, but there is not enough
meat to the story to be worth the money, in my opinion.

Title: THE ANSWER
Issue Number: 1 (of 4)
Publisher: Dark Horse
Writers: Dennis Hopeless & Mike Norton
Artist: Mike Norton
Colors: Mark Englert
Letters: Crank!
Cover Artist: Mike Norton
Price (USD): $3.99
Release Date: NOW ON SALE
Genre: Mystery - Super Hero

The central character in this story is a librarian. She is actually a genius who
apparently is content doing what she does despite her mother's objections that
she is wasting her talent. For example it is her thirtieth birthday and she is
at the library doing crosswords while answering every question on Jeopardy
flawlessly. In a surprise moment she opens a present from her mother to find in
it is a puzzle ball. It appears to be like a 9-sided die the size of softball
with dozens of characters - hieroglyphs, numbers, letters and colors on each
side. Think of it as a Rubik's Cube on steroids. Devin loves puzzles and this
one is a major challenge - which she solves in minutes. Then it opens up and
finds a small scroll with a web site URL written on it. Thus begins her
adventure that will lead to a narrow escape from five armed gunman and a bus
ride she hadn't planned on. Of course she is not the title character. That is a
super hero known as the Answer. As you can tell from the cover he wears a
skintight suit from head to toe with an exclamation point covering his face. And
no, he is not a rip off of the Question. But he, or should I say they as it soon
becomes apparent, know a lot about that web site and what follows when someone
breaks the code. We get an idea about the Answer's methods when in a separate
scene he breaks up a gas station robbery. He has no apparent super powers but
can handle himself well in almost any situation. Just how he knows Devin will be
in danger is not completely apparent, nor are the motives of the organization
behind the Apeiron web site. But once she accesses the site he is made aware and
races to extract her before the bad guys show up. It is a fast paced action
sequence from that point forward though it is told with breaks to other scenes
of what happened before. It is still tightly scripted and has a number of
surprises, right up to the last panel. The bigger secret about the Answer is
revealed there, if you did not catch wind of it earlier. The art by Mr. Norton
is terrific as well. I found this to be intriguing. The dialogue is realistic
from all the characters. If you are looking for a mini-series that has all that
with a new kind of hero you can get into then this is the book for you.

Title: GREEN LANTERN CORPS
Issue Number: 16
Title Story: Bad Guys
Title Arc: Rise of the Third Army
Publisher: DC
Writer: Peter J. Tomasi
Artist: Fernando Pasarin
Inker: Scott Hanna
Colors: Gabe Eltaeb
Letters: Dave Sharpe
Cover Artists: Cafu & Eltaeb
Price (USD): $2.99
Release Date: NOW ON SALE
Genre: Super Hero

I mentioned I do not follow the Green Lantern titles so I am not up on the whole
Rise of the Third Army situation. But I decided to sample this issue because it
features the latest Green Lantern of Earth, Simon Baz. DC does not recap the
story 'til now so we jump right in to find Guy Gardner stripped of his ring and
in jail. Evidently he did some bad stuff and got kicked from the Corp and then
after his exile back to Earth did enough to get in the can. Meanwhile the
Guardians have been behind a lot of bad stuff and created their new Corp called
the Third Army. They are kind of cute with bluish-white bodies, no mouth, and
transparent skulls showing off their green brains. They have been creating havoc
around Atlanta and just got their next mission - to assimilate Guy Gardner as
their latest member. The Guardians have also sent John Stewart and Star Sapphire
of to find Mogo to keep them occupied. It is on this mission John learns of some
of the machinations that have been going on and why Ganthet has changed lately.
But basically this issue is an all out shoot out on Earth with Guy and his
siblings along with all the prison cops trying to hold off the Third Army. As
you might guess from the cover Baz show up at the appropriate moment with a
fellow Lantern to even the odds. The story serves to bring Guy and Simon
together before the final chapter of Rise of the Third Army in GREEN LANTERN
CORP ANNUAL #1 out this week. Despite this being far into the entire arc I found
it easy enough to follow. Guy is utilized well in the plot. The only area really
lacking is knowledge of why the Guardians went bad and what their end game is. I
can see a strong effort by everyone on the creative team to put out the best
product they can. It is still typical super hero fare but the production values
are better than most.

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If you think you know the answer to the trivia question send your guess via
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please but guess as often as you like.

Last week's trivia question:
Here is softball - What were the names of Peter Parker's (Spider-Man) parents?
Peter's parents were Richard and Mary Parker. The winner by the dice is David Mc
Barron.

Here was a no prize question:
What do the letters AOL stand for?
AOL stands for America OnLine. David Mc Barron was the first to get this and
wins the no prize.

THIS WEEK'S TRIVIA QUESTION:
What title from Malibu was purposely solicited for issues that would never be
published to mask the true end of the run at issue #4?

Here is your no prize question:
What was the first acapella song to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100
chart?

Folks, you never know who among the readers is knowledgeable about the question
so don't hesitate to send in an answer - even days after it appears.