Blogger + 3 comments: Comics for 27/06/12

Amazing Spider-Man #688

(By Dan Slott, Guiseppe Camuncoli, Klaus Janson and Frank D'Armata)

So, after finally concluding the Ends Of The Earth storyline, it's time for Dan Slott to start steering the story towards a lizard-based direction in preparation for the Amazing Spider-Man film. Honestly, ''Ends Of the Earth'' wasn't as great as everyone was anticipating so its nice to move towards a much more simpler story. In this issue, Spidey and Morbius hatch a plan to return Kurt Connors back to his human form through the use of HUGE FUCK OFF NEEDLE SPEARS AND HIGH VOLTAGE, because, you know, SCIENCE! Ignoring that, what we have here is a really well paced and dynamic story, which is greatly needed after the last story arc. Guiseppe Camuncoli does a great job in this issue, and while his art isn't as detailed as past ASM artists, its erratic and unique enough to give it a distinct charm. Here's to hoping a solid arc before we move on to ,*Shudder*, the Alpha storyline.

Spider-Men #2

(By Brian Bendis, Sara Pichelli and Justin Ponsor)

I really want to love this series. Spidey's ma boi and I only want to see him succeed in the comic world, but it doesn't help that both versions of the mainstream Spider-Men are on a money grab title like this. This issue takes off straight after Miles and Peter meet for the first time and almost immediately Peter picks a fight with Miles. It seems really out of character for Peter to throw the first punch in a situation like this, especially since he knows that he isn't the only webslinger around (Spider-Woman and kaine at least). Considering this is only a 5 issue series, the pace is ridiculously slow. For example, all that we achieve in this issue is that Peter and Miles fight for a bit and that Nick fury meets 616 Peter. This series could have so much potential, like Peter meeting Gwen and Aunt May of the Ultimate Universe or the reactions of some of the ultimate villians when they see Peter again, but it just doesn't feel like this series is going to explore any of these possibilities. It has to be said though that Sara Pichelli's art is fantastic, even if the Spider fight really wasn't that dynamic. I hope at least that she ends up on a Spider-Man book and gets a bit more freedom to do what she wants, because I think that with the right writer, she could make the best looking Spidey comic ever.

Before Watchmen: Nite Owl

(By J. Michael Straczynski, Andy Kebert and Joe Kubert)

Wait a minute.......A Before Watchmen comic.........THAT I LIKED?

So far, the Before Watchmen series has been really underwhelming. Minutemen just went over things we already knew, Silk Spectre was really boring and Comedian was.....really confusing (IS HE GAY FOR JFK, OR HIS SONS?), and I was ready to write this off as another really boring comic, but I'm really glad to be proven wrong on this one. BW: Nite Owl focuses on the second Nite Owl and how he became the hero he idolized. In a stark contrast to the other BW titles, SO MUCH happens in the first issue. We see Daniel find Nite Owl's hideout, get taken under his wing, take on the title of Nite Owl and the beginnings of his relationship with Rorschach. It's the last point in particular that I'm interested in since we never found out what their partnership was like before the original Watchmen comic takes place, and I believe that this is what will make this comic stand out from the rest of the BW comics. It's a fair point to make that perhaps the pacing was too quick (we span about 5 years throughout just the first issue), but I think that it worked in it favour and made the comic feel much more exciting than it really should have been. It's odd that this might end up being my favourite BW comic as this was the one that I was sure would be the average, middle of the road story.

Ultimate Comics: Ultimates #12

(By Jonathan Hickman, Sam Humphries, Luke Ross, Ron Garney, Butch Guice and Matt Milla)

Damn.

Just Damn.

What started off as one of the most interesting story arcs of last year, has finally lead to one of the most unsatisfying ending to a story ever (Legend of Korra go nothing on this). Without going into too much detail, Tony's plan of tricking the city into working against Reed (by using his sentient cyber tumor?) works and Thor and Sue Storm charge into the city and slap Reed's shit. Reed is then locked away in some kind of super forcefield by Sue, Thor returns to Asgard to.......mope, I guess, and Tony decides to let the marines do their thing, go to a party and wait for this to all blow over