Comic reviews for April 15th 2009

Well I decided to delete that last The Week Begins as Witchblade wasn’t even coming out this week so there was no point to it. But lucky me I was able to get last week’s comics, and an added comic in Marvel Zombies 4 #1 was waiting for me much to my surprise. I guess the guys at the LCS figured that since I read the last 2 books I’d want to read this one as well. Awfully nice of them, so I decided to pick it up.

Wolverine: Weapon X #1

Written: Jason Aaron

Art: Ron Garney

Opening Comments: Wolverine is everywhere nowadays, I’m not the first to point this out and I won’t be the last as it is something that needs repeating if Marvel is ever to understand this is an annoying thing. But finally it seems something good has come of Wolverine’s constant use each month as he gets yet another ongoing. It’s no secret I loved his run on Get Mystique and that I was excited for this, I am happy to say that this was indeed a worthwhile read and stands out nicely among all the Wolverine comics.

Story Comments: the opening sort of teases the enemies for this story arc. We get some great narration, presumably it’s Wolverine, about how mankind is more animalistic then animals. Our new villains do an elaborate attack to kill their targets and it really is a cool way to introduce them. Of course these are people made the same way Wolverine was and I like their style.

We then see Wolverine on a Subway car, he and a reporter are held at gunpoint for money. Wolverine does what he always does, save the day and get his claws messy while doing so. It was a typical “I’m Wolverine, I’m Awesome” type moment that the character has just about every other story he is in. A nice introduction for him into the series and a cool moment to let newcomers know how badass he is.

Following this Wolverine meets up with an old Weapon X mutant known as Maverick. He’s been said to be a big part of the supporting cast and he was introduced well enough here. From him Wolverine finds out about the project and from there he heads out.

Wolverine starts narrating again as he finds the facility and sees some familiar scenes. Aaron does a great job of getting us in Wolverine’s head and giving him credible and really good narration that goes along nicely with what he’s seeing.

The issue ends with him finding a big room full of soldiers getting adamentium bonded to them in tanks and he says he has a lot of killing to do. A nice way to end the issue and leave the reader excited for more next time.

Overall Aaron opened up very nicely with a new series that is both new reader friendly, what with the character bios in the back, and old reader friendly in that if you like Wolverine you’ll love this series. I can’t seem to find any real complaints with this issue, just that I’m excited to see more next time and that’s not a complaint.

Art Comments: Ron Garney certainly gets a lot of out Jason Aaron’s scripts it would seem as this is some really impressive stuff. Character work never feels lazy and there’s a nice layer of detail along with good panel work. Some very impressive shots and I look forward to seeing him cut loose next issue.

Final Comments: This has turned out to be a great opening issue for what looks to be a great new series. Fans new and old can jump on and no doubt enjoy it. A must have for anyone who loves intense action and wicked cool stories.

Writing: 5 out of 5

Art: 5 out of 5

Overall: 5 out of 5

Must Have

TimeStorm: 2009-2099

Written: Brian Reed

Art: Eric Battle

Opening Comments: I’m going to gloss over the full plot and rather just describe certain scenes a little to prove my point of how disappointing this comic was. I had high hopes as a big fan of the 2099 comics but those hopes where easily smashed.

Story Comments: the plot is fairly simple, an evil company man sends the Punisher of 2099 back in time to kill heroes. Why? We have no reason. Spider-man is the first sent back and Wolverine is as well at the end of the issue.

My biggest problem is that Spider-man 2099 has been changed drastically from a brilliant scientist adult to an idiotic “awe gosh golly gee whiz!” teenager. I don’t know if this change was on purpose or if Reed really didn’t know Miguel’s actual age. Either way it’s incredibly frustrating that they would so wrongfully retcon the character’s age out of nowhere and for no good reason.

The only thing I really liked about this issue was that it keeps the tradition that Super Heroes of old times are stuck to adds. I always saw that as a commentary on society today really, where heroes of the past like Martin Luther King jr. are used on merchandise. It’s a funny commentary, even if it’s unintentional.

Though this issue was just a mess as Reed clearly does not care for these characters or their world or he would have done a better effort to make them stand out and continue to be the interesting characters that they really are. These might as well be cardboard cut outs of the heroes of 2099.

Overall though I can’t deny the dialogue was all right and the story does seem interesting. I’ll keep reading in hopes that it will pick up as I love the 2099 universe and it’s characters.

Art Comments: Battle’s artwork is a weird mix of bad and good. Mostly bad, mind you. Faces and expressions get really weird often and some faces look downright hideous. Though the heroes themselves look great and his art really explodes there. It’s a weird mix of good and bad, but most of the time it’s just sub-par work.

Final Comments: If you’re a big fan of the 2099 comics you may get a kick out of it and should check it out at least in the hopes that this series will improve. However if you’ve never read 2099 or just don’t care about it then avoid this.

Writing: 2 out of 5

Art: 2 out of 5

Overall: 2 out of 5

Pass It

Marvel Zombies 4 #1

Written: Fred Van Lente

Art: Kev Walker

Opening Comments: After 3 prior volumes, a couple of spin-offs I’ve grown tired of the zombie mayhem. But after last volume I must admit I was reinvigorated in the series and don’t mind checking out the 4^th. Not too surprisingly Van Lente pulled it off again and has me zombified and hungry for more.

Story Comments: We open with Morbius narrating his possible death video to play if he dies on the mission. We get a good explanation of the prior events in the last volume and find the Midnight Sons taking on the Zombie plague of Men-Fish attacking a ship. This is a great introduction for each character with the narration explaining about them all. Each character is identified and shown to be unique in their own way.

We also get a good explanation of the zombie virus, how it all works, it’s very interesting and I loved how they’ve developed a bullet that instantly kills the zombies. I don’t’ want to get too in depth and spoil it all but it’s some pretty interesting stuff. The final moment of Morbius’ narration was great and his final line about how he feels like a true monster was really great.

We then find out the only zombie that escaped was Simon Garth and Deadpool’s Head with him. Zombie Deadpool is absolutely hilarious as he works very well as a character for Van Lente to let out all his comedic genius with.

Simon takes Zombie Deadpool to Black Talon. A character I am not too familiar with but he’s cool all the same as his back and forth with Deadpool is awesome.

Back on the ship Morbius and Werewolf by night find the Men-Fish leader and some other disturbing things their doing with the survivors of the ship. Leaving a somewhat cliff hanger of how they’ll handle the issue next time.

The real cliff hanger though was Black Talon contacting Hood and offering Payment for the zombie virus with which he would use to kill all the super heroes. Overall Van Lente impressed me, he did a great job of introducing our characters and plot. Though at the same time I didn’t absolutely love it. I was hoping the Boat plot would be resolved by the end of the issue but it will drag into the next issue which is a shame. So while I liked the story a lot, it wasn’t quite perfect.

Art Comments: Walker continues to impress me as he did last time on volume 3. His zombies look great his monsters look just as great and he is a great match for Van Lente’s dark and creepy scripts but keeps the action going very well.

Final Comments: As much as I enjoyed this issue I can’t deny that if you’re not a fan of either the characters in it, or the Marvel Zombies franchise, you probably won’t dig this series much. But for everyone else it’s a great start to what looks to be another great series.

Writing: 4 out of 5

Art: 5 out of 5

Overall: 4 out of 5

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