Comic Reviews for February 20th 2009

3 comics to be reviewed!

Jersey Gods #1
Written: Glen Brunswick
Art: Dan McDaid

Opening Comments: It seems Image Comics can do no wrong nowadays, their really back on top and once again the breeding ground for quality comics. Jersey Gods starts out a strong new ongoing that is looking to be a very prominent comic.

Story comments: I really don’t want to spoil this issue so much so I’m going to be much more vague then I usually am. I also don’t want to spoil the great cliff-hanger ending which left me foaming at the mouth for more.
We have 2 main characters in Jersey Gods, Barock, the god and Zoe his love interest. From the preview in Invincible #55 we already know these 2 are to be married though it was a good call of Brunswick not to start us off there and actually give their relationship’s origin from the beginning.
Zoe is the man narrator mostly and I like her dialogue, she’s always got something funny, cute, interesting or fun to say and it never feels like her narration drags on like with most narration. She isn’t a perfect little girl, she has her annoying moments no doubt and I’m sure they’ll be a specific part about her character through the series.
Things get going fast from the start when Minog shows up, our main villain. For an opening villain he’s great and we learn fast that he has a good history with our hero Barock in what they call “the Great War” whatever that was, we’ve yet to fully see.

There’s a lot of jabs at the past of these characters such as Minog being defeated by Barock, Barock having apparently loved another person long ago which the mention of it risks upsetting him, it’s some pretty interesting and well thought out stuff.
Another great moment was the introduction of 2 elder gods, Rushmore being my favorite as he’s got a really creative design. I don’t want to spoil it because it’s too brilliant to say, you’ve got to see for yourself, it’s awesome.
The final part where Barock confronts Minog was again great, and the cliff-hanger which I refuse to say what happened left me drooling for more. It was just perfect and I loved it.

Though overall I can’t say the writing was perfect, some of the dialogue was just okay, Zoe had a moment that just…was weird as all hell. It sets up things nicely to be picked up on in future issues but a little more clear development of how all these events tied together would have been nice. So while not perfect, it was very well written.

Art Comments: The art here by McDaid is a cool style, and from what I understand he’s a brand new artist and this is his first ever actual comic book. His style is fresh and cool, even if it doesn’t appeal to me. My biggest problem is his shapes are a little odd, square faced people like Barock are a tad off when Zoe and Helius seem to change from time to time. It isn’t a huge glaring problem, just a little weird I guess. Still the art is good; I can’t deny that, even if it doesn’t appeal to me personally others will probably enjoy it.

Final Comments: Jersey Gods was good opening to what could be a great comic, while it didn’t quite have the same strength that started Dark Avengers last month it still was a worthwhile and enjoyable read.

Writing: 4 out of 5
Art: 3 out of 5
Overall: 4 out of 5
Must Read

Dark Avengers #2
Written: Brian Bendis
Art: Mike Deodato

Opening comments: Dark Avengers had one of the best opening issues that most comics have ever hard, continuing that streak of goodness is it’s second issue. Really, a series can only be fully suggested to someone by if it’s reached it’s second issue and where you go with this issue is the real test of it’s quality.

Story Comments: Picking up where last issue left off, our Avengers are settling in, getting to know each other. It’s a little funny at while Bullseye (Or Hawkeye as we’re now going to call these heroes by their new identities, sorry if this confuses anyone) seems rather proud of this others aren’t sure how to handle it.
Right away I notice this issue’s only real big problem, how Bendis handles the characters. When you’ve got a team book it’s hard to balance evenly all these characters together and keep a team dynamic going. Secret Warriors was a great example of how NOT to do it, Dark Avengers #2 kind of dips back and forth from great character moments for Iron Patriot, Hawkeye and Sentry whereas Wolverine and Spider-man only get 3 or so word balloons.
Also the handling of our new Spider-man is frustrating, Venom was supposed to be less monstrous but here he makes stupid comments like “Can I eat her?” which just make me repeatedly facepalm.
Morgan Le Fay was great here, she’s a perfect opening villain continuing off her and Doom’s affair during the Venom Bomb arc of Mighty Avengers. I liked how, before the battle, Doom tried to talk some sense into Le Fay, it was nice to see him acting sensible rather then just running up and attacking her blindly.
Iron Patriot is a great field leader, though Norman Osborn is the man with the plan so how could he not be? Every line out of him is nicely done and while it’s nice, I wish Bendis would have spent more time showing off other characters as well. He’s yet to make me like Wolverine here.
Overall the writing was nicely done, it was full of lots of great little moments like a topping on an ice cream cone, while the ice cream is nice itself, those sprinkles make it so much better. Bendis hits some high notes but he’s got to find that balance of a good team book that’s not quite there. Still this is some of his best stuff in a long while, this series could become on par with his Ultimate Spider-man work possibly.
Last comment about the story though, to spoil something a little bit, I really hope Sentry is dead like it appears he is.
Art Comments: Mike Deodato continues to impress, with his sexy Le Fay and his badass looking Doom the pages never cease to pop out at me and impress. He and Bendis make a good team as he compliments even some of the sore talking points and does a great job on handling the unique look of the team as well as the monsters summoned by Le Fay.

Final Comments: Another great issue, though not quite as massively great as the first issue was it was undeniably a great read with awesome art. Do yourself a favor if you decided to go skip this series, pick up #1’s second printing then #2 as soon as you can as this is looking to be a great series.

Writing: 4 out of 5
Art: 5 out of 5
Overall: 4 out of 5
Must read

Invincible #59
Written: Robert Kirkman
Art: Ryan Ottley

Opening Comments: Robert Kirkman is not necessarily good at killing time in the Invincible comic. More then often the build up to a big issue is boring and really lacks the punch that the series can usually deliver. While I had hopes for this issue, it seems #59 is the same as most pre-big event issues.

Story Comments: The story of this issue does nothing to advance the building plot points given last issue with Invincible’s new job, his relationship with Eve, their plans to move out, Oliver’s training, none of it was reflected even a little or hinted at in this issue as the stories where all halted to tell the story of a new villain, Powerplex.
That alone is frustrating, Kirkman ignoring the advancements of last issue and rather then building on them, tells the story of someone who has to be the stupidest villain in a very long time (Yes, stupider then the Carpenter in Detective Comics)
Now I understand what Kirkman was trying to do here with this villain, Powerplex lost his sister to the Invincible Omni-Man fight way back, a lot of people died in that fight, and he wants revenge. So he steals some company tech and keeps trying to get Invincible’s attention, only wasting time while doing so.
His wife agrees to help in that she plays victim and their child both pretend to be his hostages so that Invincible will come to them. Before I go on, let me say this, if I where to do this with my wife I would consider “Gee, maybe this could get messy and she could be in danger, I should lock her in the other room or something like that to keep her out of harms way in case it does.” Maybe I’m a tad cynical of this villain but seriously, it’s an obvious thought that should have hit you.
So Invincible and Powerplex fight, our villain’s power grows with the more hits he takes so he soon grabs Invincible and while he starts frying him, the electricity coming off him hits his wife and kid and they get roasted. (like Batman really) and Invincible soon ends the fight and takes him into jail.
I can tell Kirkman was going for some shock value/emotional moment points here but really I find myself more dumb-founded at how stupid Powerplex is rather then how emotionally painful this must be for him. I don’t think I could even pity such an idiot. He’s like a cow that just starts juggling axes, I can’t feel bad for eating the steak of it later on when it was clearly too stupid to know what it’s doing.
Had this issue not solely focused on Powerplex it would have been a lot better no doubt, or had it at least lead into #60 even a little, it would have been better. But what we have here is a rather mediocre read.
Now I can’t deny that Kirkman at least gets the job done and tells a competent story at least, though the sheer stupidity that is Powerplex alone just seems to wipe away anything enjoyable about this issue. It was an average to mediocre read.

Art Comments: Ottley as always is a great artist, from the opening page to the seething hate in Powerplex’ eyes at the end of the issue he pulls it off great and the scene of Powerplex’ fried family was as gruesome as it could get.

Final comments: Not really a bad issue, just a wasteful use of an issue I feel. So much more could have been done, when really all we got was a lame new villain who’s dumber then the mindless drones at Hydra. If you where looking to jump on with this issue to be ready for #60 next month, do yourself a favor, jump on then, skip this issue.

Writing: 2 out of 5
Art: 4 out of 5
Overall: 2 out of 5
Pass It

So that’s it for the reviews, check back tomorrow for Solicit Commentary.