Hawkeye #1

Hawkeye #1
Written by Matt Fraction
Art by David Aja

Action Ash
Well what can I say. I knew it was going to be good because, aside from Brubaker, it had the team responsible for 'Immortal Iron Fist' (which was amazing).

The first issue's story is about Clint getting out of hospital to find out that his landlord has tripled the rent and is evicting the tenants that can't pay. Clint finds out there are dodgy dealings involved and tries to sort the situation out.

Now, I realise that this doesn't exactly sound like riveting stuff, however it's all in the storytelling and the character interactions. That's where the magic lies, and it was superbly executed and flowed nicely. This new street level approach really works for the character and definitely makes him more relatable. In the editorial at the back it is explained that this series was partly inspired by 70's cop shows but with a "modern sheen" and I personally think that is a great direction to go in with a powerless Avenger with a bow. I would totally watch that show but I don't need to worry because it exists in comic form and I'm more than happy with that. A major theme of the book seems to be Clint's awareness that he is just a regular guy of average intelligence amongst godlike beings (the Avengers). The only thing setting him apart from mundane suckers, like you  and I, being his amazing marksmanship. This was handled well and not too in-your-face or whiny, which it could have easily been. In fact, I liked the way Clint seemed content with his lot in life, despite his normality.

The art is fantastic in it's simplicity, David Aja is truly a modern master. It differs in style slightly from his Iron Fist work but has that same nameless quality that makes his art standout. He can make the mundane look cool, which is handy because this series seems to be specialising in making the mundane look cool. Also, he's really good at shadows and silhouettes. That may not sound like a thing but it's definitely a thing.

Interestingly, except for the first page, Hawkeye doesn't use a bow and arrow for the whole issue. Still rocks! In the editorial at the back there was the name of a song and artist as recomended listening for the issue, which I thought was a nice touch and I'm looking forward to future recomended tracks.

Five Russians in trakcsuits getting hit in the neck by playing cards out of Five!

...and my own personal Super Geil!

P.S. For those who've read it: I want to learn that penny trick.

X-Men: First Class

Valhallahan

Yesterday the nefarious Action Ash and I made a trip to our local picture house to see X-Men: First Class, and the verdict is that despite some terribly cheesy moments (Moira's gifts the CIA didn't give her, "Mutant and Proud") it really is a fantastic romp and a jolly good attempt to make a great X-Men movie. I'm going to give you a few thoughts on the film and a bit of a spoiler-free geek's eye view. Listen up punks!

The first X-Men film came out in 1999, and was instrumental to bringing the worldwide audience to the possibilities of superhero movies. It discarded much of the details of the books, and the colourful costumes preferring to reimagine all the details, stick ‘em all in combat leathers, and focus on the core concept of the team. Since then we've had more faithful adaptations of the 4 colour wonder of comics, like the Spider-Man films and Iron Man, and the audience's increased willingness to suspend disbelief is certainly played upon here, with a rather colourful globetrotting adventure. We even get traditional blue and yellow X-costumes and a rather spot on rendition of Magneto’s signature headgear. This doesn’t detract from the faux-real-world angst, or inventive violence of the earlier movies, and in fact reminds us why we liked them too. This is a very nice mix. As I said, there are some naff bits so be warned, the odd line here, the Bond-esque unnecessary sauciness there (your mileage may vary), but nothing that really detracts from overall enjoyment. If anything it fits together nicely. The 1960s setting is a masterstroke. As with the rest of the series don’t expect anything but the occasional scene to come directly from the source material –this is very much the filmmakers’ own creation.

In terms of fitting in with the previous movies, it amazes me that within the space of 5 films they've managed to create as many continuity discrepancies as they have in the comics, which is a nice bit of meta commentary I’m sure. I won’t delve too far into these for fear of spoilers, but suffices to say ignore X-Men: Origins: Wolverine, which is arguably a good rule of thumb to stick to anyway. One baffling choice, not a continuity problem per se, but damned silly, was to portray Moira MacTaggart as an American CIA Agent when she has already been established as a Scottish Doctor in X-Men: The Last Stand. My advice is just go with it, you won’t regret it.

The film largely focuses on the Xavier/Magneto relationship and it can be argued that this is really Magneto’s movie – he certainly gets all the moments of anti-heroic badassery. It’s possible that they even went a bit too far with Magneto as I found myself liking him a lot more than Charles, who sometimes comes off as a bit of a berk. Perhaps that says more about me than the film, but I cannot stress too much how fucking cool Magneto is in this movie. His journey across the globe hunting Nazi war criminals is an underused but established comic book fact, and leads to some of the film’s more memorable scenes.

I enjoyed Mystique's story arc in this film, I found her more likeable than Charles even, despite some seriously hokey lines (try not to cringe when she says "Mutant and Proud" I dare you) she's quite an engaging B-character. I am surprised though by how wildly she differs from her comic book character, I realise they are using her as an audience POV character, much like Rogue in the first movie, but when you compare her to the older, ruthless globetrotting assassin turned terrorist of the comics the charming young friend of Charles is quite jarring.

Interestingly, the Hellfire Club itself is very much how one would imagine it, although its membership is entirely different to the source material with the exception of Emma Frost and Sebastian Shaw. I liked Emma’s characterisation; I'm not a big fan of the modern, reformed, toothless tiger Emma that appears in books these days, so it was nice to see her as her old formidable self. Curiously, Sebastian Shaw’s character seems to be a bit of a mixture of his comic book self and that of Mr. Sinister, certainly in terms of motives and history. I won't go into it too much for fear of spoilers, but it’s very well done in my opinion. It goes without saying that movie Azazel is better than his comics because a dogshit on a baked potato with pop tart legs and the voice of a Dalek would be better than the comic book version.

I could go on, but I won't. Words don’t grow on trees you know! Go see the film, it's good.

Well, what are you waiting for?

Marvel Girl has issues... and I don't want to read about them.

Marvel Girl one-shot
Written by Josh Fialkov
Art by Nuno Plati

Action Ash
I'm not going to beat around the bush. This was a bit rubbish really.

The X-Men characters are dear to me, and this series of one-shots looking at each of the original line up looked fairly interesting. This one, however, was not interesting. It was nonsense. The plot was boring, Jean was written unlike any portrayal of her that I've ever read and the way the overall story played out was, quite frankly, a bit whack.The art however was pretty good and the last page features a splash panel that would make a nice poster. Nuno Plati has a really interesting and stylised European art style that I totally dig. It gave the story a great look and I can imagine Plati doing character designs for an animated series or cell shaded video game. The tacky Roger Cruz cover, however, was not very good.
I suppose I should warn you that the next paragraph contains spoilers, as I'm going to give you an Action Ash abridged version of the story. Here goes:

The book opens with Cyclops and Angel fighting over Jean. Scott being the jock, douche bag that he is, wants to lay claim to his woman. Angel glides down elegantly and punches him in then face, while calling him a "Jerk!". If Warren Worthington III was real I'd fist bump him and buy him a beer. Jean breaks it up and shouts at them. Iceman  makes a comment to Beast about never wanting to date her. Jean hears and psychic blasts the shit out of them even though Beast didn't do anything. Perhaps they should change Jeans codename to  Unlikable Harridan.
Cut to Prof. X's office and he tells her that she should take a break from the team because she's out of control. She shouts at him too and then agrees to go home. When she arrives home her parents give her a hug and tell her that they've missed her. Apparently Jean doesn't like this so she decides to run out and go to the mall. While there she starts seeing psychic flash backs of her friend Annie and herself. They talk to a boy in the arcade who tells Annie she's a spaz (I lol'd) and Annie runs out crying. Jean then realises that everyone she knew as a kid is still there. She contacts the Professor with her mind and is all like "OMG there's a monster here keeping everyone under a spell", instead of coming to the conclusion that people in her home town are just boring and unmotivated to do anything with their lives.
She finds ghost/flashback Annie, who accuses Jean of moving on with her life after Annie was hit by a car. To be fair Annie, you were dead!
Then ghost/flashback/figment-of-Jean's-imagination-brought-to-life-by-her-powers Annie, transforms into a monster. Jean's all like "You're not Annie, she's nice and you're a jerk" The monster goes away, Jean talks to herself as a kid and then Prof. X comes. Jean says "ZOMG there was no monster it was just my pure bitch evil". Xavier says "Duh, This is all in your mind stupid. Check yo'self fo' you wreck yo'self" Jean says "I'm going to stop being such a dick and come back to the X-Men."

THE END

TL;DR = Waste of time!

The nonsense adventures of an unrecognisable Jean Grey out of  a possible coherent and well executed story.

Comics and ting

Action Ash 
Last week there wasn't a single comic out that I wanted to buy! I was confused at first, this hasn't happened in a while. It was OK though. It just so happened that week of no comics coincided with the first week of owning my brand new shiny iPad. Not so good for helping me concentrate on my dissertation but brilliant for games (I'm addicted to Dungeon Hunter 2) and the comic applications are pretty nifty. IDW especially impressed me with their line up of titles, FX (with John  Byrne art) and Hammer of the Gods (by Michael Avon Oeming) being two titles I would recommend to anyone out there who has the device and likes funny books.

This week was the total opposite. Eight titles to keep me busy NOT doing my dissertation.

DC Legacies #9 - Continuing my history lesson of the DC universe. Particularly looking forward to the back up strip with Bill Sienkiewicz art and Black Adam being a bad ass.


Flash #9 - Finally back to main story instead of "rogue profiles" *cough*timewasters*cough*. Looks like a good ish and I hope this Flashpoint business will end up being a good event.


Knight and Squire #5 - A great issue with a great ending. Can't wait to see what happens next. That's all I'm going to say, I don't want to spoil it.

Carnage #3 - I've enjoyed this so far and I love the art but do have the feeling that it could turn out to be a bit pointless.

Heroes for Hire #3 - Last issue had me totally hooked and helped secure this book a place on my "ongoings" list. One thing though...the art. It's good and everything but some of the women look really ugly. In  issue 2 Satana looked like a transvestite. Just saying. Also this issue features Iron Fist.

Incognito #3 - After escaping the whore house of doom, where will Zack Overkill's adventures lead him next?

Click the pic to see this sick wrap around cover in full glory

New Avengers #9 - That was quick. The last issue was only out two weeks ago. Never mind I'm not complaining.

Power man and Iron Fist #1 - I have been looking forward to this since the end of Shadowland! Written by my favourite, Van Lente, this new duo are sure to have some interesting adventures. Also contains the comeback of a character I love that featured in another book by Van Lente.

Comic books: The perfect hangover cure!

Action Ash

I woke up to find myself sprawled across an air mattress on the floor of a flat I didn't recognise as my own (it was much tidier). As I rolled over to my right, above me on the couch was sleeping a hairy ogre of a man. You guessed it, it was Valhallahan. As he snored away, the previous night's events began to come back to me. I was at a pub in Hoxton, surrounded by trendy wankers while The Fabulous Penetrators rocked my face off. Then Liam and I ended up staying at a friend's place and that was where I had just found myself. After spending half the day there, kindly being made breakfast and watching a film, we felt it was time to get out of the way and we stumbled out into the streets of Limehouse feeling like mere shadows of our former selves. We were not, however, without direction. We both knew that the best way to regain our humanity was to find a comic shop and quick. We headed for central and Gosh was our first port of call.

One of the first things I noticed after entering was a particular horror comic high up on the wall, who's cover I had come across on the Internet: Chamber of Darkness #7 (1970). Chamber of Darkness was a short lived horror title that for some reason didn't sell well (despite wicked offerings from Bernie Wrightson and Steve Ditko) and was retitled Monsters on the Prowl from issue 9 onward. After browsing some more I bought it and we moved on to Comicana in Shaftesbury Avenue, which has a fantastic collection of back issues. I bought a bunch of stuff that I'm too lazy to mention but among my stack were two issues of Marvel Spotlight featuring The Son of Satan, some old Horror titles such as DC's  The Witching Hour and Marvel's Tomb of Darkness and a bunch of other titles.

Monday and Tuesday went by without anything worthy of mention happening and then Wednesday rolled around and it was time for even more comic books from Chaos City. Here's what I picked up:

Conan: Road of Kings #2 - I read a preview online and this issue looks like a good'n.

Detective Comics #873 - The conclusion of Snyder's first story arc and I'm pumped to see how Grayson's going to get out of this one. Also it's nice to read a comic story that only three parts and not stretched beyond it's natural limit to six issues solely to make it easier for trade conversion.


Namor #6 - Now all that vampire nonsense is over I want to see what they're going to do with a favourite character of mine. Note the fantastic Phil Noto cover.

Astonishing Thor #2 - It's a shame they had to go and give it an Ed McGuinness cover when there's all that gorgeous Mike Choi on the inside.

Chaos War #5 - This didn't turn out to be as epic as I had hoped it would be. Still been fun but tbh I forget it exists between issues.

New Avengers #8 - I am not happy by the change of art and hope it's only temporary. It's not that I don't like Daniel Acuna, it's just that Immonen was doing a brilliant job and I think he captured the perfect look for the series. Never mind, prove me wrong Acuna.

X-Men #7 - Now all that vampire nonsense is over I want to see what they're going to...Whoa, I just experienced some De Ja Vu.

On top of this I also bought three back issues of Hellblazer to start catching up. Those of you with excellent memories will recall that I started buying it after a swap shop where Liam suggested it. Shortly after I forgot I was buying it and am now a few months behind. That's not so bad though as I know someone who has been buying it but is still YEARS behind when it comes to actually reading it. He shall remain nameless =P

Beyond!

Valhallahan
Well how do fellas and fellerettes? I thought I posted this ages ago, but I, err... didn't. Anyway, here it is.
Beyond! is a Marvel team up book that came out in 2006, but was overshadowed by whatever event they were having that week. I think it was Everyone’s A Bastard Now or Iron Man’s A Dick This Month or The day the Earth Turned Bastard maybe it was All Women Is Bitches . Something like that. Anyway, this series is an old school Marvel Crossover which picks up where 80s crossover Secret Wars left off and It’s the same premise on a slightly smaller scale. A mysterious disembodied entity “From Beyond!” whisks away a random assortment of Marvel heroes and villains to a far off planet and offers them their wildest dreams if they do everyone else in. Of course it’s not just a free for all, there are enough twists, turns and what-have-yous in this to keep us readers entertained. At the beginning of this story it’s revealed that the events of Secret Wars was not a one off, and this Beyonder has been bringing group after group of characters to die fighting on this planet for years and now it’s these guys’ turn. Remarkably they manage to work in this premise, so steeped in Marvel Universe history, but make it totally new reader friendly at the same time. I think this largely stems from the choice of characters.

For Beyond! McDuffie picked a truly eclectic bunch of A-Z listers, I think it’s this mixture of characters everyone knows and characters nobody knows that are essentially clean slates for most of the audience. I was particularly happy to see Deathlok get an outing, it’s not my favourite version of the character, but I’m always happy to see Deathlok get some attention. The version in this story is the one from the series McDuffie wrote in the 90s and he obviously has a fondness for the character, so this Deathlok fan approves. Another character its good to see again is The Wasp who was rather pointlessly killed off by Brian Michael Bendis a few years later in Marvel mega-event Everyone Secretly a Bastard, which looking back on it was a load of cack. Rounding off the cast are Hank Pym (wife beating former Avenger), Firebird (uninspiring former Avenger), Kraven the Hunter (the not such a villain, more like Steve Irwin son of the original), The Hood (the sympathetic pre being written by Bendis version), Venom (the one that used to be The Scorpion), Gravity (I didn’t read it either, he seems a bit like Invincible), Medusa (the incestuous Inhuman) and Spider-Man (never heard of him).

Scott Kolins art suits the tone perfectly, his style has a fantastic mixture of the stylish modern artist, and the classic Marvel method. I do have one gripe about his art namely “what in the hell is Pym wearing?” but other artistic choices like Firebird’s naff Native American themed kit and Venom’s killer Scorpion tail, actually work if you ask me. The Venom tail particularly, which I thought was a nice addition to the character. On that note, it warrants mention that this was written when the Mac Gargan Venom was a fairly new concept, and people were having fun with the new design. Nowadays everyone just draws classic Venom, maybe a bit bigger, but still same old, same old which I think is a wasted opportunity.

The book is created by Dwayne McDuffie and Scot Kollins both of whom made their names chiefly from their work for the Distinguished Competition, McDuffie for his work on Static and his Milestone characters and later with the Justice League in comics and Animation; Kollins known largely for his critically applauded work on The Flash. It’s interesting to see these guys let loose on such unashamedly classic Marvel action, full of obscure cameos and continuity nods, and they do a bloody great job of it too if you ask me.

I wholeheartedly recommend this and it’s not just the hangover talking.

Face Front True Believers!

All Hail Marvel Comic's new Editor in Chief Axel Alonso



-AA

Werewolf by Night: My collection begins.

Action Ash
On Friday I arrived at Chaos City comics to find that there were only three titles I wanted to purchase this week.

They were:

Conan: Road of Kings #1 - The new Conan series which continues where the Cimmerian's adventures were left in Conan the Cimmerian.

Mighty Samson #1 - Another Dark Horse revamp. I love the Magnus, Robot Fighter revamp and this looks similar so I think I'm going to love this too.

Chaos War #4 - I still don't know what the hell is going on.

The small size of my stack did not bother me however, because I knew there was something else awaiting me on that cold winter day. A friend of mine, a mister Ian Hine of Dead Universe Comics, had obtained some titles I wanted to get my hands on and dropped them off in a long box at Chaos City. It contained some classic Marvel titles such as Marvel Spotlight #5 (first appearance of Ghost Rider) and Tomb of Dracula #1, but although these were cool, I was interested in something else.
Among the 60's and 70's Marvel wonders were some books I have wanted for a good few years, Marvel Spotlight #2-4 and Werewolf by Night #1!

























It's safe to say that Werewolf by Night is one of my favourite comics.
Brilliantly written and beautifully drawn, it is a prime example of the days of Marvel past and a great chapter in Marvel's history. I am extremely happy now that I own these books and cannot wait until I acquire the full collection.

What I got and Why

Action Ash
Yo, yo, you turkeys. While Valhallahan is boogying on over to Ireland for the weekend, I'm left here with coursework to write and fish to monger. Oh, and I have a cold too. I needs me some escapism, and what better form could it take than a couple of films and a selection of this week's funny books.

Heroes for Hire #1 - Following on from all that Shadowland jazz and looking pretty sick on a flick through, there's no reason why I shouldn't buy it really. Just hope it's as good as it looks.

Shadowland #5 - The conclusion to the street level, ninja noir, epic is here. Time for DD to bow down and get what's coming to him.

Taskmaster #4 - Last issue! I'm sad to see this go. I think I could quite happily read an ongoing of this every month.

Batwoman #0 - Saw Valhallahan's review and took the recommendation. Simple as that.

On the non comic book side of the spectrum, I recently picked up the new special edition release of Fritz Lang's Metropolis. Including an extra 25 mins of footage that, up until two years ago, was thought lost. You can now watch it as German audiences would have seen it in 1927. Super geil!

I tell you what, that Thor is ASTONISHING, isn't he?

Astonishing Thor #1

Written by Robert Rodi
Art by Mike Choi

Action Ash
I do love a bit of cosmic nonsense. It's been a while since Thor has been allowed to "get cosmic" (Yeah, I just invented that), having been fairly earth based in recent years. That has now been rectified.
Astonishing Thor is an epic tale of a god on a mission, starting with Thor beating up a tsunami and ending with a visit to Ego the living planet. Brilliant!

Although harkening back to a silver age style story, Astonishing Thor is told in a serious manner that drags you in and makes you feel you have begun to witness an epic in the making. As there are quite a few Thor mini series out at the moment (that will ready to be released as trades about the time the film is released. Coincidence? I doubt it), I expected this to be an OK attempt at money grabbing, but I have been proven wrong. It seems that Mr Rodi wanted to tell a good story about every one's favourite thunder god. I'm pretty sure this is the first time I've read anything by Robert Rodi, and I would definitely read more.

On the aesthetic side of things, this book looks fantastic. Choi has out done himself and made it look and feel epic. From the sensational splash pages to the detailed flashback sequence, Choi has helped create immensely beautiful visuals with which to tell Rodi's star spanning story with.

At the back of the comic, I am told the next issue isn't until January, which feels like a long time to me. More importantly, will January's issue keep up the epic cosmic standard set by this first issue? Well, I guess we won't know until January.

This is exactly the type of story I think Thor needs right now. A truly great addition to Marvel's modern mythology.

4 and a half Norse gods giving natural disasters a beat down out of 5

What I got and Why

Action Ash
Let's take a look at which books are keeping me company during this cold winter week.

Detective Comics #871 - I bought this out of curiosity about the new creative team. Jock's cover for this issue is SICK!

Shadowland Power man #4 - I'm sad this has to come to an end... but it's ok. The Power man and Iron Fist series is starting in Feb and I'll be waiting.

Conan the Cimmerian #25 - Final Issue! That is until Darkhorse releases it's three new Conan series. I love the barbarian and everything, but I don't know if I want to read three different series about one character. Who am I kidding, I probably will. I don't know how Batman fans do it.

Astonishing Thor #1 - I like Thor. I like Choi. This better be good.

Legacies #5 and #6 - Missed these at the time they came out so just catching up. Amazing covers that link together to portray an epic battle from Crisis on infinite earths. Super Geil!

What I got and Why: My comic book weekend.

Action Ash
My new university timetable means that I am busy all day on Thursdays, so I now have to wait that extra day to get my grubby little hands on the week's funny books. This displeases me. Anyway, on Friday I dropped by Chaos City Comics (St Albans) and picked up a bunch of cool stuff:

Knight and Squire #1 - I just want to take the time to rub it in because Valhallahan did not get a copy (Sucker!). This book is quite simply brilliant in it's British-ness.

Superior #1 - The new creator owned project from Mark Millar and Leinel Yu. Looks great!

Shadowland #4 - Penultimate Issue! Glad it's coming to an end soon tbh.

Tomb of Terror - This one shot from Marvel is a nod to their awesome horror titles of the 70's, with all the classics, Werewolf by Night, Daimon Hellstrom Son of Satan, Man-Thing and N'Kantu the living Mummy.

Thor #616 - The new creative team are looking good. Can't wait to see where Fraction takes this title.

Magnus, Robot Fighter #2 - Loved the first one, this one looks just as good, with even better action sequences.

New Avengers #5 - I like this book but I hope not all the story arcs are going to be 3 issue stories stretched beyond their natural length for the convenience of trade conversion.

I also picked up this delightfully fiendish collection of horror comics from the 50's, entitled Four Colour Fear. There are some great tales in this book, and a glossy section in the middle displaying some amazing covers. If you're a fan of bizarre old comics then pick this up without hesitation.

My comic book weekend didn't stop there folks.

My fellow bad guy and I graced the streets of this great nation's capital, in search of thrills and spills. Instead we found comics and Chilango's. I picked up...

Morning Glories #2 (Second printing) - Almost forgot I missed this, so I was glad to get hold of it. This issue is looking just as promising as the first.

Vault of Evil #10 - A 70's horror comic from Marvel. I love this shit!

A fat pulled pork burrito - The absolute antidote to hunger!

Bye Bye Bucky: Captain America #610

Valhallahan

Well that was... Ok, I guess. Perhaps I’m being unduly harsh, but after that drawn out story that lead to exactly nothing, I’m out. Adieu James Buchannan Barnes, I hardly knew ye. Actually that’s a lie. It’s a testament to Ed Brubaker’s skill as an author that I feel like I do know Barnes inside and out. It really is impressive how much Bru got out of what initially sounds like the worst, most clichéd 90s-esque character since Cable "It’s Bucky, like from the 40s, but he’s not really dead, and he’s all dark now and used to be a secret government assassin and now he’s got a robot arm and grunge hair and he’s got like, a bunch of guns and he’s got a mysterious past with Nick Fury, Wolverine and the Black Widow and did I mention he’s Dark?" See what I mean? This could have ended up like an X-treme Captain America, like Captain Mother Freaking America Liefeld Yeah! Thankfully it didn’t. Brubaker’s Captain America run has been superhero comics at their best, but aside from the Two Captains America story, it’s been treading water for a little while now, so I’m going to quit while I’m level.

Of course it could just be that I’ve read too much of it now after 60-odd issues, and when the next trade paperback release comes around I might have has a sufficient break and be singing a different tune but I don’t think so. I give Zemo storyline three and a bit star-spangled shields out of five, it was the last thing they had to do with the character, make him face the son of the man that ruined his life in the first place but now that’s over with I just feel that the story has run its course.

I can’t actually remember what happened in the back up strip, but I’ve not been impressed by that since day one, so I really won’t be missing it. Nomad scores two mopey hoodies out of a possible gang of happy slappers.

CAN YOU COUNT SUCKERS?...

Action Ash
...because if you can, you may have noticed the growing number of double page spreads dedicated to assembling members of a gang or organisation, in Marvel comics at the moment. I know this sounds a bit tenuous, but let's take a look shall we. (click image to enlarge)

Shadowland: Powerman #2

Taskmaster#1

X-Force: Sex and Violence #2

I suppose it's a quick and easy way of introducing a number of characters (a lot of them b or c-listers in these cases) in to a story without having to go too deep into who they are. The first example cleverly uses it as a way to sneak in a reference to the warriors (one of my favourite films) which is further evidence that Van Lente is awesome. I must point out that the first two examples are both written by Van Lente, so that says something. However, Sex and Violence came out first, therefore Kyle and Yost seem to be the originators of this trend.

Although I like the gang assembly scenes, I can see them becoming over used, much like quotes from The Mighty Boosh. Kept to a minimum they could remain a fun and or dramatic way of introducing characters into a story.

CAN YOU DIG IT!?

Shadowland: Powerman

Action Ash
I am generally quite positive about the comic book industry, but I thought I'd join in with Valhallahan's Positivity week anyway, to talk about the comics I've enjoyed in recent times.

Being a Luke Cage fan I was excited when I heard about the new Powerman character, as some of you may remember, and I must say it did not disappoint. Well it hasn't yet anyway. Sweet Christmas! I am loving the this series. The first two issues have been great, with references to Luke Cage's past and the cameos in issue 2, this mini series has been an enjoyable tribute to the legacy of Luke Cage. Although I am upset that nobody has been called, nor called anyone, a turkey. I think all this needs is a bit more jive and street talk to sweeten the deal.

Even so, this is a brilliant introduction to a new character, and one that I hope will stick around. The new Powerman is different from Cage, a fresh new take on the "Hero for Hire" deal. The writing is yet another example of Van Lente's wit and extreme competence in the realm of satisfying storytelling, with amazing action sequences. Asrar's art suits the tone well, not taking itself too seriously but could be a little better in some places.

Van lente my brother, you keep this up and you gon' have plenty of stash in yo' slide. Ya dig!

Shadowland: Blood on the Streets

Shadowland: Blood on the Streets #1 of 4
Part 1 Crime and Punishment
Written by Antony Johnston
Art by Wellinton Alves

Action Ash
So I picked this up thinking that I could do with a dose of peripheral Marvel vigilantes fighting crime in relation to this ongoing Shadowland event. That's exactly what I got.

The story kicks off with The Shroud investigating the murder of a low level mob boss by the Hand. Misty Knight gets involved, not believing that Daredevil would sanction such a thing. Meanwhile, Silver Sable is hunting a Russian mobster and their stories become intertwined.

This is a good beginning to a crime story involving super types. From start to finish I was kept interested in where the story was going and by the end wanted to carry on and read more. Alas I will have to wait till next month.

The Art was the better side of average, not really leaving a bad impression, but it's not going to give anyone a hard on.

As I have mentioned before I am loving this event and everything I have read thus far has been great. You could say this is the most "Batman" the Marvel Universe has ever been.

4 dead mobsters out of 5

God Hates Nerds? San Diego Westboro Special!

Valhallahan
Them crazy backwards hate mongers at Westboro Baptist Church seem to have their sights on us geeks this year, having clearly decided that the US military are too fucking hard they're aiming to share their own brand of Christianity and their homespun homophobia with us comic book readers. Because God Hates Nerds!

Obvious really.

Having seen this image in the article I read about the proposed picket of San Diego Comic Con something about the sign struck me as peculiar. I've read ROM #9 and I don't remember any of that on page 13. Let's have a look.

See? No reference whatsoever. It's clearly ROM fighting Serpentyne for the right to slay wraiths on Earth.

I bet they feel silly now.

The Grim Hunt Begins!

Spider-Man #634
The Grim Hunt Part 1
Written by Joe Kelly
Art by Michael Lark and Stefano Gaudiano

Action Ash
Grim Hunt has begun and it is pretty cool! I haven't read Spider-man in years but I had to pick this up and try it. I'm glad I did because I wasn't disappointed.

Kraven's kin are out for Spider blood and will stop at nothing till all the Spider related heroes are dead.

I was gripped from the start and was left wanting more. The story was well written and even though I haven't been following Spidey it was easy to get into and I didn't feel lost at any point.

The artwork is fantastic and soooo different to the Spider-Man aesthetic I'm used to. A far cry from the colourful silver age style adventures, it was a much darker more mature take on the web slinger. I suppose you could say it was "grim" at parts and therefore really suited the story. It was very noir "adult comics" so Valhallahan will probably want to marry it.

Also there's two back up features. The first, entitled Hunting the Hunter was mediocre and left me with no great sense of pleasure or displeasure. The second was an interesting two pager from Stan Lee himself. It's 12 part series, so it should be interesting to see where Lee takes it.

4 Russians chasing a guy in a red and blue leotard out of 5

Slack Cat

Black Cat #1 of 4
Written by Jen Van Meter
Art by Javier Pulido

Action Ash
It's fun.
There's not much more to say on this book. The story was hardly boner worthy, but I did enjoy it. I used to like the character back in the days of the 90's Spider-man cartoon, but apart from that I've not really had any exposure to her.

This issue makes her seem fairly two dimensional and not really interesting enough to hold her own. The most interesting thing about her seems to be that she's shagging Spider-man and therefore, left me feeling that she should remain in a supporting role in the web head's many titles.

However the artwork is fantastic. Pulido has done a great job bringing the story a retro charm and a great aesthetic that nearly masks the lack of interesting plot.

The highlight of this disappointing affair is the extra in the back of the book, in the form of a prologue to The Grim Hunt, the new Spider-man arc that started this month. It looks Super Geil!

In summary it's not that bad... but it's not that good either. Art is great. Not sure if I'll pick up the next ish or not.

2 and a half stolen Faberge eggs out of a whole collection of 5

'nuff said!

New Avengers is back with a vengeance

New Avengers #1
Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Art by Stuart Immonen

Action Ash
The latest addition to the Heroic age Avengers titles is here and it's just what I've been waiting for. Don't misunderstand me, I loved Avengers#1 and Secret Avengers #1 but this is what I want from my Avengers. I only started reading New Avengers from issue 51, but right away it was one of my favourite titles. I liked the street level adventures and the assembly of characters, and was surprised at how well the mixed lineup worked.

The new New Avengers seems like it's going right back to that, only with Luke Cage leading (which in my opinion is a plus) and starting with a storyline linked to the one that I started this series with.

The eye of Agamotto, Dr Strange, Dr Voodoo and Daimon Hellstrom, the son of Satan himself, are the focus of what looks like will be a good little adventure to get the guys into the swing of being a New Avenger (again!).

Immonen is perfect choice for pencils, as he continues to do what he did previously on this title, only better. Some of that may due to the contribution of Wade Von Grawbadger (srsly!) on inks and Laura Martin on colours. They both do an awesome job!

4 thunderclaps in Victoria Hand's face out of 5