A Quick Review Of A Few...

[Tonguedevil]

Hey. Been lurking here a while, never cared to post until a "Reviews" section popped up. Anyway, I've aquired a few new comics this month, and here are my thoughts:

GOTHAM KNIGHTS #s 50 - 51:

Loving this story. Maybe even moreso than "Hush." Looks like we're getting more of the Hush character's personality and a bigger display of his pure adrenaline-driven hatred for Batman and his rogues in this one.

It seems more immediate and severe to me than "Hush" did. I like how Hush kicks the hell out of The Riddler, with no conscience or quarter apparent - this guy could turn out to be one of the greatest Bat-Rogues, in my opinion.

I love the art, too. A great "hyper-real" afterthought to Lee's rendition of the same characters, I think. We might be looking at a classic in the making here, people.

Aside from the praise, I really can't find one thing I dislike about this story (at this stage, anyway) or the new creative team. GK is undoubtedly the best of the core bat-books right now. Check it out.

GRADE: A

JLA #s 95 - 97:

Hell yes. Hell yes. More, more, more! Where have comics like this gone, and why the hell aren't we seeing more of them!?

Meaning: COMICS THAT ARE MADE FOR PEOPLE WHO READ COMICS BECAUSE THEY OFFER SOMETHING DIFFERENT THAN MOVIES AND OTHER POPULAR FORMS OF ENTERTAINMENT!!

COMICS ARE NOT MOVIES AND PROBABLY SHOULD NOT TRY TO BE!! CLAREMONT AND BYRNE SEEM TO UNDERSTAND THIS SIMPLE CONCEPT!! PLEASE KEEP IT COMING!!

The only downside with "The Tenth Circle" as far as I'm concerned is that I know it ends after only six issues. Why can't we have these guys as the ongoing team on this title? Why is Byrne indefinitely on Doom Patrol instead of JLA? Why?!

GRADE: B

HULK #66 - 69 ("Dead Like Me"):

The best I've read from Jones on this title since his first five or-so issues. Beautiful art, beautiful Betty and Nadia, and a beautiful bloody clone-brawl to boot.

I love clones. Loved Spidey's clone saga. Love all clones and the conflicts they bring. MORE, PLEASE!!

It only suffers for me due to the fact that it still hangs on the coat-tails of this 2-year-plus long-winded storyline.

GRADE: C+

AND THE "STINKER" OF MY REVIEW:

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #505:

Good God almighty - can we hear a righteous group of screams that proclaim "CLICHE, TIRED, STUPIFIED, INCONSEQUENTIAL, BORING AND INANE?!"

Yay. Mary Jane exits home to try and get a better acting role, preceeded by Pete proclaiming (get ready, now) "I understand so long as things are fine with us."

Pete's sure become one hell of a whipped hombre, huh?

Then Spidey talks a little kid out of using a gun. And that's it. And it's all yours for only three dollars.

Thank you Marvel, may I have another?

GRADE: F-

...So ends my session.

[Godfather]

Just a little note, JLA 94 to 96 is what we're up to as of yesterday.

And while I think Gotham Knights is ok, I really think Detective Comics is the best of the bunch right now. We'll see about Winick's run on Batman.

I'm still a little out on JLA right now, (I don't get my comics until saturday so I haven't read 96 yet).

[The 'Nam]

is this a joke?


you gave JMS' Amazing spider-man an f-?????


and you loved the clone saga??



tell me this is a joke........

[Tonguedevil]

Originally posted by The 'Nam
is this a joke?


you gave JMS' Amazing spider-man an f-?????


and you loved the clone saga??



tell me this is a joke........

No joke, amigo. I really liked JMS's first arc with Morlun and Ezekiel, and a few issues thereafter, but alot of his Spider-Man run has read like so much filler material to me.

And yes, I loved the clone saga. Sure, it had its problems (especially near the end) but I was never, ever bored with the clone saga like I have been with Amazing over the past few years. Yes. I've been regretfully, horribly bored.

That said, this new arc beginning in #506 looks promising and hopefully now we'll get some consequential drama from the book.

[COREMARK]

I've got to say that so far, the Tenth Circle is the worst story to appear in JLA thus far. The dialogue is clunky, and don't get me started with all the thought balloons. I really hope this story starts to improve.

[MatthewSmith]

Originally posted by COREMARK
I've got to say that so far, the Tenth Circle is the worst story to appear in JLA thus far. The dialogue is clunky, and don't get me started with all the thought balloons. I really hope this story starts to improve.

This story is killing me. I'm not enjoying it at all. Yes, the dialogue is horrible. And yes, those thought balloons are driving me crazy also.

[dollman]

Well, I've gotta join the anti-10th Circle Bandwagon.

As a rule, I don't like vampire stories, so that's strike 1.

Ordway, who in the past is a very good inker, is really laying it on thick and overpowering Byrne's pencils that's strike 2.

And Strike 3 - I really hate the new look Negative Man!!!! What in the world is Byrne thinking with a flying skelton??? And why get rid of the living mummy look for Larry Trainor? There was absolutely nothing wrong with the old black siloutte energy wave.

Bring back classic Negative Man.

[Royal Nonesuch]

I'm really enjoying the current JLA arc. I like the art, I like the dialogue, and I even like thought balloons (didn't realize they were so looked down upon). And I know nothing about Doom Patrol, so they don't bother me at all either. Oh well, to each his own.

[TheFoo]

While I wouldnt go as far as giving ASM an F, it sure as hell screamed 'filler'. Good for you for having the balls to sayings something about it. I'd give it a D. "Blah-blah-blah-blah-blah" It was sorta funny, however, how Spidey carries a phone with him!

Man, there is a lot of grade inflation going on here. Its just like college!

[Xgirl1251]

I'm not a big fan of the Tenth Circle thing. I couldn't even bring myself to finish an issue.

Spider-man on the other hand, I loved! Of course it was filler, but I found it to be rather good filler. I think Vibes was a nice story all in all. You don't need to know years of continuity to understand it, all you need to know is the meaning of Spider-man.
I would give it at least a B.:)

[TheMightyGeek]

I'm amazed that none of the previous posts has mentioned how abso-fraggin'-lutely bloody AWFUL the main baddie is in "The Tenth Circle."

"Crucifer?" "Crucifer?" Does he have a sister named "Lucifix?"

He has all the threat and dangerosity (wow, Strongbad moment) of a toy poodle. He even has to have others go out and hunt for him. Wow, scary.

Let's face it. If'n his li'l buddy hadn't'a gone out and found herself Superman, he wouldn't even be a Major Bummer villain.

I mean, really, vampires? Didn't Claremont try that seventeen years ago with Art Adams, and to much better effect? Wasn't that him who wrote that Action Comics annual? Or am I giving credit to the wrong dude?

Anyway, JLA finds vampires, JLA spanks vampires, vampires go sleepy-bye. BRING BACK THE MAHNKE!! I WANT TO TOUCH THE MAHNKE!!

[MattBrady]

Folks - sorry to take the strongarm stance here, but I'm locking this thread. As explained in the rules, each new thread should cover one comic, to make it easy for people to browse the forum.

MattB