Jupiter’s Legacy #1:

“Millar asked some potent questions that I myself was wondering about society and superheroes for a long time now…”

10 / 10     

Writing                 10/10

For the first time in a while, we see a very balanced Mark Miller with some amazing dialogue and interesting, refreshing characters. The fight scene in this issue was brilliant. I actually felt bad for the villain within 1, or 2 pages, which shocked me. All in all, with one of his most commentary stories yet, Miller knocks most of these scenes right out of the park.

 

Art                         10/10

Frank Quitely, as always, does a magnificent job. He delivers some beautiful cinematic-like scenes, with some awesomely choreographed fights. His paneling is rather simple, but I feel it compliments and only enhances that cinematic-like quality I was mentioning. Peter Doherty does a superb job of coloring and design, creating one of the most interesting panels I’ve ever seen, actually peeling metaphorically through the process of making a comic at one point.

Synergy                 10/10

Quitely and Miller did a great job! Not only does it already speak volumes about the comic industry as a whole, both through dialogue and visual commentary, but it’s tone, art and sequences are worth the buy alone. This issue was so fresh and so on point in so many cool ways it made me desperate for more.

 

Overall:
I feel Millar has his own niche in comics and he fits it well, a lot of people don’t like this niche, but that’s life, not everybody likes certain styles. I think this issue was a very well executed, diluted down version of Millar’s ultra-action packed, dirt-bag style. It maintained everything I enjoy about Millar’s work, while packing some really important commentary about the current comic industry. He asked some potent questions that I myself was wondering about society and superheroes for a long time now, hopefully his series will answer some of those questions

Batman #15:

But Here’s The Kicker             

7.7

Writing                 7.5/10

Scott Snyder has been receiving a lot of praise lately for his recent Batman series. His Court of Owls arc was alright, but in my opinion, it received way too much attention for such a mediocre story. His Death of the Family arc is following that run, and Greg Capullo is once again on pencils accompanying him. So far his story has been decent, but this issue took quite a dip. I feel fans are glazing over a lot of important criticisms on Snyder’s work just to celebrate his new Batman series, I don’t know why because he makes some annoying blatant mistakes.                         

(Spoilers Below)

This issue starts from where we left off last time, with the Joker and Batman on a bridge over some kind of water reservoir. This scene on the bridge really frustrated me. I mean its bad enough the chattering teeth trap just defies logic and reality, but Batman just sits there for who knows how long, until he decides to finally rip out. For some reason he loses his gloves in the process, (it’s stupid), and then gets blown up by a bazooka shell. He jumps through the explosion somehow and punches the joker. The poison in the joker’s blood paralyzes him and he can’t move ..all because his gloves fell off. I just don’t understand why anyone would write such a stupid convoluted action sequence like this for Batman, without any pay off, it’s just terrible. Especially if the most important part of the whole scene, his gloves falling off, isn’t even visualized in a panel. Some of these mistakes really drew me out of the story and ruined it for me.

The joker is also being used as a grotesque gimmicky side show. I mean most of what he does is horror, and there’s simply not enough comedy. Snyder’s Joker is 90% scary and 10% clown, Its always been more of a 60/40 or 70/30 split in my head. The best part about joker is he’s supposed to make you laugh at things you shouldn’t, when he’s made to just scare you, it’s obvious and pointless.

There is also a long argument scene, it takes up a whopping 30% of the issue. So 6 out of 21 of the pages is spent in the batcave with the Bat-family just arguing. It’s boring, drawn out, and repetitive. The Bat family is angry because the Joker might know all of their identities.. or he might not. Its really not that interesting, because for a bunch of proactive Superheroes, they don’t even start to discuss what they’re going to do about it. It’s like watching a frustrating cartoon, where they just run down the track to get away from the train, rather than hop off. I’ll admit he does a good job of portraying some of the characters, but it seems to be just a showcase of this, and nothing more. I mean common these are some of the smartest problem solvers in the world, let’s see it.

Also the whole premise of the Joker completely taking over Arkham is just a little ridiculous. Snyder really tears down Batman in these stories, I mean in once instance, he shows Bruce having hacked the electrical grid of the city with Bat terminals, but when it comes to the place where Batman puts all of his criminals.. he has no intel at all? Its Arkham, Batman always used to be watching the cameras there or making regular unwarranted checkups on his pals. In these stories he’s just a terrible Detective, it’s kind of embarrassing.

Art                          8/10

Greg Capullo does an awesome job with the interiors on this book. He’s being doing a good job since he started on the Batman books in the New 52. As always he brings his cartoony but consistent and well proportioned style. His faces are a little too happy looking for a Batman comic, but he makes up for it with some really emotive characters. He also brought some great dynamic paneling to this issue. I don’t know if depicting the glove removal fell on to Capullo or not, but not having it definitely took away from the issue.

Synergy                                7.5/10

These two have been together for two arcs now and seem to work wonderfully together. For some reason an important scene was not depicted in this issue.

Batman and Robin #15:

Little Big Man              

8.3

Writing                 8/10

Peter J. Tomasi has been doing a fantastic job with Batman and Robin as of lately. He has been building on and emphasizing the father and son relationship between Damian and Bruce. So far he’s done a phenomenal job of fleshing out their unique situation. I haven’t really been enjoying the Saturn Club plot, and how it ties into the Joker’s plans hasn’t really been revealed either, so far it just seems too random. At least in this issue we’re treated to an intense interrogation between Damian and the Joker.

He makes a couple of funny jokes and the bird puns are rich throughout. Tomasi actually does a nice job of cleanly explaining some of the Joker’s motives for Death of the Family, something that even Snyder hasn’t done that well. Unfortunately this issue is probably not as heart wrenching as some of the previous issues of Batman and robin, but its not too disappointing. It certainly ends on an interesting note, could that really be Bruce?

Art                          8.5/10

Patrick Gleason does another fantastic job in this issue. His thick dark lines provide some great shadowing and some dark intense scenes. Gleason also took the time do some really intricate and detailed work in some of the panels, particularly on the Joker’s face/mask. He gives us a lot of close ups from Damian’s perspective and boy are they good. As the Joker’s rotating it around on his face, you can almost see the leathery texture of the skin. At times the face seemed a little inconsistent and it changed dramatically in the lighting, but this only made it scarier. Overall he did a wonderful job and really made the reader feel the grotesque interrogation.

Synergy                                8.5/10

Something meshes between these two, maybe it’s their ability to depict Damian’s tragedy so well.

Cable and X force #1              

7.7

Writing                 7/10

I enjoyed this issue, maybe more than I should have. Dennis Hopeless seems to have an interesting story building, with a cool team. I’m not too familiar with many of the characters, but so far it seems like it could be good, too soon to tell though.

Art                          8/10

Salvador Larroca does a great job with the art in this book. There was one panel that looked awkward, Domino is jumping down an elevator shaft and she looks just a bit too stiff, other than that the art is good.

Synergy                                8/10

 

Action Comics #15:

Superman at the End of Days              

8.0

Writing                 7.5/10

Grant used some interesting perspective in this story that, for the first read over, was almost too jarring. The story jumped a lot in this issue to give the feeling that Vndyktvx was and is distorting and playing with different parts of time, more importantly Kal-El’s life. I enjoyed the story from the 5th dimension, particularly how it intertwined with Superman and his origin. Though due to all of the jumping the pacing the of the issue got a little thrown out the window. Which wouldn’t have been bad considering the context of the issue, but it certainly stole some thunder from the unfortunate ending. I simply didn’t feel the impact as much, but I could definitely feel the tension closing in. Morrison did a wonderful job with that in this issue. It really felt like time was closing in on Superman and that an impossible enemy was surrounding him. I liked the reveals, but it didn’t seem to carry enough of a punch.

Art                          8/10

Rags Morales did a great job as per usual, with steady lines and even proportioning. He mostly depicted an apocalyptic future with a red sun and Superman on the run. These scenes flashed back and forth with scenes by Brad Walker. He brought a nice traditional, Christopher Reeves style Clark Kent and the crinkliest Mrs N we’ve seen yet. His bold lines were found in flashbacks from Smallville, and some scenes from the present. Chris Sprouse, on the other hand did a contrastingly cutesy interpretation of the 5th dimensional planet Zrfff. I didn’t really enjoy it, but I didn’t hate it either, I will say it did create a distinct other worldly atmosphere. Overall each artist’s style contributed a unique feeling to their scenes which complemented the narrative nicely.

Synergy                                8.5/10

Three artists with varying styles, were coordinated well, with a writer that creates scenes that are very difficult to imagine, much less draw.

All New X men #3  

7.8

Writing                 7.5/10

Brian Michael Bendis is doing a good job with this new series and by that I mean he hasn’t done anything to screw it up yet. At the moment I’m still on the fence as too how much I enjoy this plot. Beast has always been one of my favorite original X men, and his plan to fix Scott just seems way too short sighted. For now, it doesn’t sit well with me. Some Interesting dynamics between Summers and Magneto are beginning to develop, which makes the story a little more interesting, especially since Scott killed Xavier. Overall this issue was alright, but the final confrontation reveal in the end, didn’t even get me too excited (beyond the natural excitement of seeing the original X men suited up in modern pencils and inks).

Art                          9/10

Stuart Immonen did a phenomenal job with the pencils on this issue. His style is absolutely amazing, dare I say almost flawless. I suppose some of his proportioning and lighting falters, but for the most part he provided some top quality art and paneling. Over all his thick, dark and bold lines brought an appropriately realistic and sinister atmosphere to this darker issue of the All New X men.

Synergy                                8/10

The Avengers #1:

Avengers World          

8.5

Writing                 8.5/10

Jonathan Hickman has set up quite an epic tale. A very interesting villain stands center stage and with that a very interesting set up (almost a David and Goliath feel with Captain America and Ex Nihilo). This story seemed very balanced and the stylistic repetition and symmetry was great. I thoroughly look forward to seeing how the rest plays out, I just hope these new avengers are worth watching.

Art                          9/10

Jerome Opena and Dean White did a beautiful job on this issue. White’s soft coloring and Opena’s perspective and dynamic positioning throughout the issue really contributed to the legendary atmosphere. This issue felt vibrant and alive, and it really conveyed a lot of mood and emotion, mostly due to both of these artists’ superb lines and shadowing. Overall the art direction on this book is top notch.

Synergy                                8/10

Hell Boy in Hell #1          

8.0

Writing                 7.5/10

Mike Mignola delivers the next phase of Hell Boy’s journey, after Nimue’s ghost has stolen his heart from his chest. A very ambiguous first issue that didn’t build up too much, but never the less, piqued my interest.

Art                          8 /10

Mike Mignola’s art is very stylized in a simplistic and crude way. His style is distinct and too me, makes a Hell Boy story feel authentic. This issue had great lines, and shadowing combined with some contrastingly vibrant and dark coloring by Dave Stewart.

Synergy                                8.5/10

Mike Mignola both writes and draws Hell Boy in Hell.

The Legend of Luther Strode #1

8.1

Writing                 7.5/10

Justin Jordan introduced Strode in a thrilling, but  overdone and slightly uncreative way. This issue played out in a lot of typical over top action ways, without adding anything too fresh to the genre. The ultra violence in this issue was however mediated with some nicely choreographed sequences. Overall this issue was a good start, but didn’t really hook me in as I’d hoped it would.

Art                          9/10

Tradd Moore has a very unique cartoony style with a really gritty feel to it. At times the faces can get a little too exaggerated and wrinkly, especially for younger characters. Overall it is a great style though, it adds a certain level of humor to the large amount of extreme violence. The paneling was a little more basic, but almost all of the scenes were action packed and exciting. The action was well drawn and kept the excitement of this issue very high. The art in this book’s very unique and because of that, it almost carves out its own niche amongst other gritty action books.

Synergy                                8/10