2015 Year in Review: Comic Books

Saga (volumes 3-5)

My rating for volume 3: 7

My rating for volume 4: 3.5

My rating for volume 5: 5.5

Black Science (volumes 1-3)

My rating for volume 1: 9.5

My rating for volume 2: 9

My rating for volume 3: 9.25

Infinity

My rating: 9

Captain America: Hail Hydra!

My rating: 5.5

Inhumanity

My rating: 4.5

Captain Marvel (volumes 1-3)

My rating for volume 1: 8.75
My rating for volume 2: 7

Metal Gear Solid Deluxe Edition

My rating: 7

Doctor Strange: Season One

My rating: 7.75

Guardians of the Galaxy (volumes 3 and 4)

My rating for volume 3: 7
My rating for volume 4: 7

Nova (volume 4)

My rating: 8.5

Moon Knight (volumes 1 and 2)

My rating: 8

Moon Knight: The Death of Marc Spector

My rating: 8

Avengers: Rage of Ultron

My rating: 8.5

Deadpool vs. the Marvel Universe

My rating: 7.5

Guardians of the Galaxy: The Complete Collection (volumes 1 and 2)

My rating: 9.75

Gambit (volumes 1 and 2)

My rating: 6.75

Avengers: Ultron Unbound

My rating: 6.5

Guardians of the Galaxy and X-Men: The Black Vortex

My rating: 6

Divinity (volume 1)

My rating: 6

X-Men: Age of Apocalypse (Prelude, volumes 1-3)

My rating for the Prelude: 9
My rating for volume 1: 7.5
My rating for volume 2: 9
My rating for volume 3: 8.5

Age of Ultron vs. Marvel Zombies

My rating: 7.5

Uncanny Avengers (volume 1)

My rating: 7.25

Angela: Asgard’s Assassin (volume 1)

My rating: 6

X-Men ‘92

My rating: 9

Guardians of Knowhere

My rating: 6.25

All-New Ghost Rider (volume 1)

My rating: 8.75

Inhumans: Attilan Rising

My rating: 8.5

Thanos Rising

My rating: 9

X-Men: Age of Apocalypse (2015)

My rating: 6.5 (out of 10)

Ghost Racers

My rating: 8

A-Force

My rating: 8.5

Armor Wars (2015)

My rating: 8.25

Comic Book review: Saga, Volume 5

It’s now been multiple years since Alana and Marko began their life on the run from the many factions that view their hybrid child Hazel as a bargaining chip or threat to galactic stability. As the fourth volume saw Alana, her mother, and Hazel forcibly separated from Marko thanks to the actions of one misguided and extreme janitor, this fifth volume bounces back and forth between the ferocity with which Alana will defend her daughter and the uneasy alliance forged between Marko, the now-exiled Prince Robot IV, coastal rancher Ghus, and thespian/drug addict Yuma. There is a also, a secondary plot concerning The Brand, Sophie, Lying Cat, and Gwendolyn, as they search for a means to revitalize The Will, who is still out of commission.

This fifth volume of Saga does well to focus the spotlight back on Alana and Marko more so than the previous two volumes did, but it does teeter back and forth in uncertainty as to whether or not it wants to redeem these two main protagonists. While they may be worlds apart from each other for the majority of this most recent volume, their thoughts of one another do weigh heavily, as their last interaction before they were torn apart was one of confrontation and hurtful words. And yet, while Alana does appear to bear some degree of regret over her exchange with Marko, her cunning and maternal defensiveness are somewhat undercut by the fact that she doesn’t seem to give a rat’s ass about anyone other than her own family. Marko, meanwhile, decides to turn to the drugs he so abhorred to escape his feelings of guilt over losing track of his family, and even displays a savage nature from seemingly out of nowhere.

While not nearly as overwhelmed in its attempts to juggle multiple story threads as the previous volume, this latest entry still feels a bit thinly stretch as more characters are introduced to the already burgeoning cast. Many of these newcomers see their stage exits by the end of this fifth volume, but it’s still almost too much on the plate when you consider the number of characters who have held minimal importance on the larger plot for the past two volumes. And at the end of this collection, there’s merely more cliffhangers and open-ended threads, with not but a few subplots being resolved by this trade paperback’s conclusion.

While Saga’s adult language and ‘edgier’ presentation factor were amusing early on, they have since become obnoxious elements of its identity. The series tries too hard to jam vulgarities into every other sentence, and the sexual imagery is largely without purpose – it’s perfectly acceptable to explore the relationship Marko and Alana forged during or even prior to Hazel’s conception, but it’s wholly unnecessary to show the act of a dragon fellating itself for a cheap laugh or ‘shock value’. While not as sour an entry as the fourth trade paperback, this fifth volume of Saga only does so much to return the series to the spark of imagination and intrigue, as well as the focused path that were so prominent in its first two collected volumes. As much as I wanted to continue enjoying Saga, I feel these most recent releases have turned me off to the series enough that I can confidently state that this is the end of my investment in Brian K. Vaughan's space opera.

My rating: 5.5 (out of 10)

Comic Book review: Black Science, Volume Three: Vanishing Pattern

The final act in the first arc of Rick Remender’s Black Science continues to thrill with wildly inventive hodge-podge realities and a more pinpointed take on the established narrative style than was seen in the previous two volumes. As volume two concluded, we were made privy to the fact that Grant McKay was in fact alive, despite having been led to believe he had perished beneath the crushing weight of clockwork machinery. And smartly, this third volume makes an early objective of explaining just how the scientist, pioneer, and previously deadbeat dad cheated death. The explanation is brief, yet befitting the tale that has been woven through the previous installments, and simultaneously provides some concrete footing for the answers that are revealed before this third volume’s climactic finale.

If there is one theme that rings constant through volume three, dubbed Vanishing Pattern, it is a story of redemption – specifically, the redemption of Grant McKay in the eyes of his children and unlikely comrades. There are still misunderstandings among the exploration team, and selfish actions that lead to physical confrontations. But the emergence of a father who actually cares about his children and the chance to see them reach home safely is a rewarding payoff having understood Grant to have previously been a cheater, a liar, and a workaholic who was absent for the majority of his children’s formative years. It may not a complete hero’s journey, but it is refreshing to see him act the part of a decent human being, not only taking responsibility for his poor judgment in the past, but also taking the role of leader more seriously.

Meanwhile, Grant’s children appear to have a greater stake in the story as a result of their placing faith in their father. While Nate received a healthy amount of time in the spotlight during Black Science’s second volume, his elder sister Pia takes center stage for a couple of chapters in this third volume, standing up to a couple of key characters who would dare to try and tell her to sit back and let the adults make decisions on her behalf. While it is true that the cast has been thinned a decent amount since Black Science’s first chapter, the dynamics played off among the current band of misfits feels the most natural and manageable yet. Grant still does not trust Kadir, and Kadir may not be out to prove himself a hero to anyone, but it is that very uneasiness between the two most action-oriented males of the party that makes their relationship so perfect.

Vanishing Pattern sees the party visit but one lone world, whose situation is worse than ever. In this reality, the counterparts to Grant, Shawn, Rebecca, and the other cast members concocted some form of virus that spread across the planet – a planet where Roman Praetorians make use of jetpacks, wrist-bound flamethrowers, and other space-age tech in their quest to punish those who allied themselves with the scientists who damned their world. As is the case with nearly every encounter made across the various planes of reality the main cast has made, the initial run-in with these royal warriors turns violent quickly, and they slowly but surely begin to unravel the mysteries of what went so horribly wrong in this world, while simultaneously deducing the pattern of events that has led them to this place and time.

As random as the Pillar’s jumps appeared to have been, there is, in fact, a pattern that is revealed, as well as an intended vector. Volume three does not answer all of Black Science’s lingering questions, but it does clear up a few key mysteries prevalent during this first act. The art style is, once again, superb throughout, with terrifyingly gorgeous decayed cityscapes splashed across full pages, and the high-flying action of jetpack chases expressed with incredible intensity. The oranges and reds of blood and fire clash violently against the dull and darkened interior of this world’s facilities, wonderfully symbolic of the death and destruction that has been wrought upon this reality, as well as how starkly out of place the exploration team is as strangers in yet another strange land. The finale is, yet again, a cliffhanger – one that excels in shock and horror, yet feels a very appropriate tail-end to this more intensely-focused portion of Black Science’s grander narrative.

My rating: 9.25 (out of 10)

Comic Book Update: “I am as far beyond mutants as they are beyond you!”

I’m going to be altering the format with which I handle comic book/graphic novel reviews from this point forward. While I certainly feel there is a benefit to seeing the visual artwork and layout of the graphic novel format within a video review, the comments sections of my YouTube videos have, over the course of the last year or so, become increasingly populated by lazy, rude, and overly demanding individuals. As such, comic book reviews going forward will be adopting a format similar to my video game and anime reviews. With perhaps rare exceptions, I still expect to review individual volumes of a longer running storyline, as opposed to the entirety of that storyline. However, when the end of the year ‘Top 5 Comic Books of 2015’ list is posted (alongside my ‘Top 5’ lists for video games and anime) it will list my best-of-the-best selections for this year as the sum of its parts – or, at the very least, the extent of what has been released before the end of December 2015. In short, my comic book reviews are not going away, they are simply seeing a format change that will be more in line with the style I have already established for my video game and anime reviews.

With that order of business taken care of, what follows is the current list of upcoming reviews. Keep in mind that I have no concrete date in mind for the posting of these reviews, only that they will be coming sooner rather than later. From the Marvel Now! line, I’m still following along with Nova and Guardians of the Galaxy, and while the latter won’t see its fifth proper installment released until later this year, I recently finished the second crossover with the X-Men, titled The Black Vortex. I also picked up the first volume of Angela: Asgard’s Assassin, as I rather enjoyed how they opted to introduce her character in the Guardians of the Galaxy run, and am hopeful that a solo series of her own can garner a solid balance between Marvel’s cosmic and fantasy realms. It certainly doesn’t hurt that she kicks all kind of ass on her journeys of self-discovery.

I also recently finished Thanos: The Infinity Relativity, the second of three original graphic novels by Jim Starlin, focusing on the Mad Titan himself, as well as plenty of other familiar cosmic Marvel faces. And I continue plugging away at the magnum opus that is X-Men: Age of Apocalypse, a series which, frankly, has no right holding up as well as it does in this day and age (it continues to blow me away, in the best ways possible). In a similar gamble to Black Science, I decided to pick up Divinity from Valiant Comics (a label with which I have no prior knowledge of), as it too dabbles in the territory of fringe science and men playing gods. Meanwhile, the third volume of Black Science is en route to me as I write this, and in all likelihood, I will power through this latest release on the day it arrives on my doorstep.

While I typically wait for the trade paperback releases of comics to purchase them, some of the current Marvel Secret Wars/Battleworld storylines proved too appealing for me to pass up, and so I am currently reading X-Men ’92, Inhumans: Attlian Rising, Guardians of Knowhere, Age of Ultron vs. Marvel Zombies, Armor Wars (2015), and Age of Apocalypse (2015). Currently, X-Men ’92 is my favorite of the bunch, but Age of Ultron vs. Marvel Zombies is proving a surprisingly solid read as well. I’m only one issue into Age of Apocalypse, so I can’t properly gauge that series as of yet, while Inhumans: Attilan Rising, despite being one of the more wildly inventive offerings from the bunch, has not yet left as strong an impression on me as most of the other series. Perhaps it will prove a slow burn. Either way, I certainly appreciate the fact that these storylines will all be limited runs, and that Marvel isn’t pretending that the Secret Wars/Battleworld mish-mashing of different places and times in their history is in anything but temporary. On a side note, I have been reading the main Secret Wars series on loan from a friend, and it is easily one of the better crossover events in recent history – possibly a better read than Infinity, depending on how these upcoming later issues play out. More likely than not, I’ll end up purchasing the Secret Wars trade paperback before year’s end.

Comic Book review: Black Science, Volume Two: Welcome, Nowhere

My review of Black Science, Volume Two: Welcome, Nowhere. Written by Rick Remender, illustrated by Matteo Scalera.

My rating: 9 (out of 10)

Comic Book Update: Higher, Further, Faster, More

Yesterday was Free Comic Book Day, and while I nabbed a handful of preview comics and free issues on ongoing series, I also decided to purchase a few trade paperbacks as well from a local comic shop. All three were Marvel properties, the first being Ms. Marvel: Best of the Best, as I’ve really been digging Carol Danvers’ role as Captain Marvel in the more recent Avengers tales and her current solo series. I thought it appropriate to travel back to some of her earlier tales of action and heroism. Along those same lines, I picked up the Avengers/Invaders collection, a post-Civil War story which appears to highlight Ms. Marvel, Captain America, Black Widow, and many other Avengers members who I am familiar with, as well as some that I would like to read more about. Finally, I grabbed the second collection in the X-Men: Age of Apocalypse epic, a release which, as I understand it, was something of a confusing series of trade paperbacks, as this second volume is where the Age of Apocalypse story truly starts, while the first collection is comprised largely of side stories and supplementary material. Until very recently, it had been years since I had read a proper X-Men story, but upon finishing X-Factor Forever, my interest in the mutants was somewhat rekindled, as I wanted to learn more about Apocalypse as a villain – the vast majority of my pre-existing familiarity with X-Men tales stemmed from the conflicts between Charles Xavier’s titular team and Magneto’s Brotherhood of Mutants.

Also among my semi-recent purchases are Avengers: Ultron Unbound, an early 1990s story wherein Ultron attempts to take down the West Coast Avengers and build himself a robotic wife in preparation for his plans to kick-start dormant volcanoes to wipe out all life on the planet. It’s a bit corny, and the oddball cast that makes up the West Coast Avengers is a striking reflection of Marvel’s 1990s style, but Ultron is an entertaining villain as always, and the interactions between some of the Avengers members imply some less-than-happy-go-lucky outcomes. I recently finished the second trade paperback collection of Rick Remender’s Black Science, a series which – if it continues to fire on all cylinders while maintaining a scope that balances intrigue with a focused plot, as it has been from the start – may go down as one of my all-time favorite graphic novels. I am somewhat wary in stating that, as I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself, but Rick Remender’s writing has consistently impressed me across the many different storylines and genres he has tackled.

By the end of this month and into early June, I expect to have added the latest volumes of Guardians of the Galaxy, Nova, Captain Marvel, Legendary Star-Lord, and Captain America to my collection, as well as Jim Starlin’s latest original graphic novel, The Infinity Relativity, and the Realm of Kings reprint in order to round out my collection of Marvel's cosmic renaissance works. I may also end up purchasing the Annihilation Conquest Omnibus for that same reason. Other trades that I have my eye on and may bundle into orders later this summer include Spider-Man Noir: Eyes Without a Face, Infinity War, Infinity Crusade, Thanos: A God Up There Listening, Uncanny Avengers, and the Thunderbolts series featuring Agent Venom, Red Hulk, Elektra, Punisher, Deadpool, and Ghost Rider.

Comic Book review: Saga, Volumes Three and Four

My review of the third and fourth volumes Saga. Written by Brian K. Vaughan, illustrated by Fiona Staples.

My rating for volume three: 7 (out of 10)
My rating for volume four: 3.5 (out of 10)

Comic Book review: Saga, Volumes One and Two

My review of the first two volumes of Saga. Written by Brian K. Vaughan, illustrated by Fiona Staples.

My rating for volume one: 7.5 (out of 10)
My rating for volume two: 8 (out of 10)

Comic Book review: Black Science, Volume One: How to Fall Forever

My review of Black Science, Volume One: How to Fall Forever. Written by Rick Remender, illustrated by Matteo Scalera.

My rating: 9.5 (out of 10)