Comic Reviews
More catching up.
Punk Rock Jesus #4 - The time jumping slows down in this issue. Chris' mother teams up with the NAC and tries to free Chris, only to be killed in an "accident". In his anger, Chris starts reading science and philosophy books and listening to punk rock (finally!). Of course, this leads to him becoming a fairly typical 15 year old anarchist. He escapes from his keepers, runs to NYC, and joins up with a punk band to start a revolution. I'm unsure if I'm supposed to take this seriously or not because Chris' philosophy is so childish, but I'm glad that the "punk rock" has finally shown up and that the story slowed down some.
Ame-Comi: Supergirl #1-2 - We get Supergirl's back story, a fight between her and Power Girl versus time travel cops, then the attack of Brainiac, ending with a cool scene of Supergirl and Power Girl attacking the ship. In the end, Brainiac has Supergirl in a death grip. Decent action, bit too much exposition, manga-style art, but some wonky camera angles and anatomy ruin the art some.
Avengers Assemble #1 - The Avengers have a new base of operations while Zodiac starts a plan to get a WMD. The Avengers fight to stop them. Lots of action, not much characterization. Average.
The Boys #71 - A funnily anti-climactic ending to the Butcher v. Hughie fight. After trying to catch Hughie at the end of last issue, they both fall to the observation deck of the Empire State Building, where Butcher breaks his neck and Hughie pierces his leg. Since Butcher can't move, we get a slow issue where he and Hughie talk about how everything lead to this. The only part I didn't like about this issue is Butcher tricking Hughie into killing him at the end. I get why Butcher would want to die, but Hughie really should have learned not to be manipulated by Butcher at this point. Meanwhile, VA uses that female executive as a fall guy, which was pretty damn obvious for a long time, now.
Legends of the Dark Knight #12 - The PI is trying to clear his name and ends up overhearing that Black Mask is behind the murders. The PI hides out in the back of a car while the bad guys go to destroy evidence, which (of course) leads to Batman thinking the PI is involved and throwing him in jail. In jail, Black Mask frames the PI for murder, which ends with the cops swarming the room and holding the PI at gunpoint.
Secret Avengers #31-32 - The Abyss is trying to spread itself throughout the world on airplanes, which Black Widow and some others try to stop. Black Widow ends up turning on the last plane out. Elsewhere, Venom and Ant Man are fighting for their lives, ending up near the Taskmaster. Just before their deaths (and Black Widow landing the plane), Venom sends out his symbiote and enveloping The Abyss, forcing the masks off of Taskmaster's head. There's some epilogue with accusations of Ant Man being a double agent (annoyingly dismissed), Flash hooking up with Valkyrie, and Ant Man reporting to his masters and declaring himself "Black Ant" (ugh). The action was nice, the resolution with Venom's symbiote was out of no where, and Black Ant is stupid.
Wolverine #62-65 - Wolverine is out to Get Mystique!, chasing her across the Arab world. I like how relentless he is in his pursuit and how merciless Mystique is when escaping. The flashbacks to their shared past are okay. I don't like/get Wolverine letting Mystique live in the end. And the reason for him chasing her is explained in a different story line, but that's not really a factor.
Wolverine #66-72 and Wolverine: Old Man Logan Giant-Size #1 - I love alternate reality/future stories, so this was right up my alley. The adventure with Hawkeye is fun and the story gives enough hints for you to put together a history of how we got to this place. Not much I don't like about this, though it feels like Millar is just throwing together random scenes just because he can at times.
Punk Rock Jesus #4 - The time jumping slows down in this issue. Chris' mother teams up with the NAC and tries to free Chris, only to be killed in an "accident". In his anger, Chris starts reading science and philosophy books and listening to punk rock (finally!). Of course, this leads to him becoming a fairly typical 15 year old anarchist. He escapes from his keepers, runs to NYC, and joins up with a punk band to start a revolution. I'm unsure if I'm supposed to take this seriously or not because Chris' philosophy is so childish, but I'm glad that the "punk rock" has finally shown up and that the story slowed down some.
Ame-Comi: Supergirl #1-2 - We get Supergirl's back story, a fight between her and Power Girl versus time travel cops, then the attack of Brainiac, ending with a cool scene of Supergirl and Power Girl attacking the ship. In the end, Brainiac has Supergirl in a death grip. Decent action, bit too much exposition, manga-style art, but some wonky camera angles and anatomy ruin the art some.
Avengers Assemble #1 - The Avengers have a new base of operations while Zodiac starts a plan to get a WMD. The Avengers fight to stop them. Lots of action, not much characterization. Average.
The Boys #71 - A funnily anti-climactic ending to the Butcher v. Hughie fight. After trying to catch Hughie at the end of last issue, they both fall to the observation deck of the Empire State Building, where Butcher breaks his neck and Hughie pierces his leg. Since Butcher can't move, we get a slow issue where he and Hughie talk about how everything lead to this. The only part I didn't like about this issue is Butcher tricking Hughie into killing him at the end. I get why Butcher would want to die, but Hughie really should have learned not to be manipulated by Butcher at this point. Meanwhile, VA uses that female executive as a fall guy, which was pretty damn obvious for a long time, now.
Legends of the Dark Knight #12 - The PI is trying to clear his name and ends up overhearing that Black Mask is behind the murders. The PI hides out in the back of a car while the bad guys go to destroy evidence, which (of course) leads to Batman thinking the PI is involved and throwing him in jail. In jail, Black Mask frames the PI for murder, which ends with the cops swarming the room and holding the PI at gunpoint.
Secret Avengers #31-32 - The Abyss is trying to spread itself throughout the world on airplanes, which Black Widow and some others try to stop. Black Widow ends up turning on the last plane out. Elsewhere, Venom and Ant Man are fighting for their lives, ending up near the Taskmaster. Just before their deaths (and Black Widow landing the plane), Venom sends out his symbiote and enveloping The Abyss, forcing the masks off of Taskmaster's head. There's some epilogue with accusations of Ant Man being a double agent (annoyingly dismissed), Flash hooking up with Valkyrie, and Ant Man reporting to his masters and declaring himself "Black Ant" (ugh). The action was nice, the resolution with Venom's symbiote was out of no where, and Black Ant is stupid.
Wolverine #62-65 - Wolverine is out to Get Mystique!, chasing her across the Arab world. I like how relentless he is in his pursuit and how merciless Mystique is when escaping. The flashbacks to their shared past are okay. I don't like/get Wolverine letting Mystique live in the end. And the reason for him chasing her is explained in a different story line, but that's not really a factor.
Wolverine #66-72 and Wolverine: Old Man Logan Giant-Size #1 - I love alternate reality/future stories, so this was right up my alley. The adventure with Hawkeye is fun and the story gives enough hints for you to put together a history of how we got to this place. Not much I don't like about this, though it feels like Millar is just throwing together random scenes just because he can at times.