"BOCEPHEUS" |
"These reviews are based on the Sneak
Peek titles sent out by Marvel & Image (DC no longer sends them out). It's not
everything that's shipping for the week, but it is a real good cross-section of
this weeks releases. Check the bottom of the page (after you read my reviews)
for a link to some SNEAKY PEEKIES of future titles" |
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 BOOK
OF THE WEEK:
NEW X-MEN #31
Comic Review by:
Larry "Bocepheus" Evans
Writer: Craig Kyle & Chris Yost, Artist: Paco Medina
The ‘Nimrod’ arc ends this week with a double sized issue
that puts the team thru it’s paces as they fight someone
that is way out of their league. We see that Rockslide has
saved the team and watch them in action as they attempt to
find away to beat Nimrod. Kyle & Yost do a great time here
showing the kids learn to become more than just kids. They
create a tense tale that shows how anything can happen if
you push yourself. We see here the potential that the
newcomers have (especially Julian) and that suggests the
second year for the team will be a great one. There are 2
epilogues here showing the fate of William Stryker and what
the future holds for Nimrod (we get a reprise of his first
appearance) along with a text page from the writing team
thanking everyone for reading the book while telling us what
to expect in their second year. Paco Medina does a great job
on the issue and the title in general.
MSRP: $3.99,
Alternate Reality Price: $3.40 (That's 15% OFF, All
This Week!) |
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MARVEL ROUND UP…
Wolverine: Origins #7 continues where we left off
last issue. Wolverine has found Jubilee and his old friend Maverick but Omega
Red showed up to make the reunion less than a happy one. Last week’s Wolverine
special showed us what the Carbonadium Synthesizer was and how Maverick got it
but here Omega Red comes to get it back to save him from dying. We what the
unusual material does to Logan and the device used to remove parts of Logan’s
memories as we still haven’t seen what will be done to save Logan’s
son…Thunderbolts #107 begins the march towards the Warren Ellis/Mike Deodato run
on the title while villains from all over the Marvel Universe deal with the fall
out from the Grandmaster/Zemo interchange. The issue is action from start to
ending with the expected cliffhanger to the next issue…Stan Lee Meets Doctor
Strange has Stan hang with the Master of the Mystic Arts in a Stan written tale
drawn by Alan Davis (as tongue in cheek as you can get) and an Impossible Man
tale from Brian Bendis and Mark Bagley that has IM dropping into the Marvel
Universe and notice all the changes. The classic tale included is a Stan/Barry
Smith Doc Strange tale that has aged well…Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #17
is a well done story written by Zeb Wells and drawn by Kano that gives us an
insight into the life of Ben Grimm…Annihilation #3 (of 6) contains many pages of
destruction mixed with great interplay between the army involved in defeating
the Wave. We see why Galactus had to be taken and what he is being used for as
we learn that the Super-Skrull is far from dead. The word of what is happening
spreads here, as things look very bad for the Universe…Uncanny X-Men #479 brings
Billy Tan back to the book. We begin by looking in at the man needed to destroy
the Phoenix, Korvus. His mission is set and he takes on the team but the outcome
isn’t close to what we would expect. As the fight goes on the two Shi’ar
passengers traveling with the team make their move and that will bring us to the
next issue and the reappearance of Vulcan.
IMAGE ROUND UP…
A thin week this time around includes the initial issue of the Pirates of Coney
Island (of 8 issues) and if you have a fascination for indy rock bands and small
town life then you may care for this. I wasn’t drawn into the series at
all…Samurai Detective #2 arrives and it is more of the same we saw last issue:
shadows, swords, tense narration and coolness…Umbra #3 (of 3) arrives and I cant
see this selling any better than the first tow. We get answers to what was
behind all the Iceland based mystery but with less nudity and more aliens.
DC'S
BOOK OF LAST WEEK…
This week’s book is Nightwing #125, the first issue by the new team of Marv
Wolfman and Dan Jurgens. Wolfman will be around for at least a year but Jurgens
may leave after the first arc. The issue has voice over narration by Dick
Grayson, who is now living in New York and looking for a job. From the looks of
this the arc will deal with the fact that Dick was supposed to die during
Infinite Crisis while setting him up in his new environment. He has some hot
female neighbors, no job prospects and a mystery about burning victims. The tone
is much different from the Bruce Jones take on the character, which sold well at
the start, but annoyed more fans as it continued. I think most of the hatred had
to do with his lack of regular artists and the fact that Jones has lost most of
the luster that returned to him when he came back from comic exile. |
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"See, I told you I'd be
down here. We've got a bunch of SNEAKY PEEKIES of future
MARVEL, DC and IMAGE titles right
HERE" |
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All
Books/Characters pictured herein are © Copyright 2006
by their respective owners. No rights given or implied
by Alternate Reality, Incorporated.
Reviews © 2006 Alternate Reality, Inc. |
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