Week In Review 09.01.2012 : New Comics Mega-post!

Week-In-Review time folks!!
This week it's Animal Man #5 + Batwing #5 + Vampirella vs. Dracula #1 + Witchblade #151 + Avengers Annual #1 + Fatale #1 + The Lil' Depressed Boy #8!


This week three of the team have gotten together to give you one HUGE mega-review post, bringing you the best, brightest and most popular comics out this week!

Anupam's Reviews

Animal Man #5

Story: Jeff Lamire

Art: Travel Foreman

Writer Jeff Lemire's bought one of the under dogs of DC and turned him into a full on horror filled (new) Animal Man! Be it horror,superhero or simply comic book fans, this one shouldn't be a miss. Plus the visuals really set the book apart and puts it in the way too (horribly) dreadful category!

SCORE : 9.5/10

Batwing #5 (featuring a special appearance by Batman!)

Story: Judd Winick

Art: Ben Oliver

I would call this more of a character development story rather than a 'story' I would wanna see in a comic. The art overall gives a very realistic feel, which matches the story perfectly.

And don't get fooled by Bats's special appearance, practically there was no need of him to be there at all! Probably an idea by writer or editorial team to include him in order to raise the sells.

SCORE : 7/10

Vampirella vs Dracula #1

Story:

Art:

A huge 53 paged grab, also includes Alan Moore's vision on 'Dracula' with art by Gary Frank. The artist (Rodriguez) does a great job alongside the writer (Harris). My guess is that the sales have already gone 27% higher after people got a look at this cover. ;)

SCORE : 8/10

Mayank's Reviews

Witchblade 151

Story: Tim Seeley

Art: Diego Bernard

An era for witchblade came to and end with Ron Marz delivering his finale in witchblade 150. Over the past few years, Ron Marz has moved Sara away from the titillating heroine that she began her career with to a more refined , mature and intelligent woman.

With 151 the baton is passed to Tim Seeley (Hack/Slash) and the judgement is still out on whether Seeley would be able to deliver the goods

To his credit he has begun his run with a shake up in Sara’s life. She is no longer the hard-boiled New York cop , but a PI in the city of Chicago. The issue itself however is by the numbers witchblade tale with a shout at the Micheal Turner’s witchblade run thrown in for good measure. There is an inkling to a higher conspiracy here, but even that could not save the story from “being there-done that” feel. This is only the first issue for the new creative team and admittedly Tim would take some time before he gets into the full grove here.

The question is whether you would want to stay to give him that time. I always give 3 issues to a new creative team to impress me, so Mr. Seeley – 2 more to go before I decide.

The second half of the new team is Diego Bernard . He provides character to the city of Chicago through his scrumptious visuals and his Sara is second to none. Witchblade requires a certain skill when it comes to art and Deigo delivers in spades.

SCORE : 6/10

The Avengers Annual #1

Story: Brian Michael Bendis

Art: Dell'Otto

The Avengers franchise has grown by leaps and bounds under Bendis’s mighty pen. He took a flagging franchise and turned it into a property worthy of Hollywood’s notice. This doesn’t mean his stories have any particular depth to them however. But they are definitely one of the best Popcorn flicky ,larger than life high octane yarns in comics out there

With Avengers Annual , Bendis delivers another episode of his continuing saga. Wonder Man has gone off kilter and now thinks avengers team is responsible for some of the most tragic incidents in Marvel history . It had been difficult to argue with his point (M-Day / Secret Invasion / Dark Reign etc etc) had his portrayal not been so over the top and so loony. He calls out the entire media to denounce the Avengers and as he is in the middle of trashing them, marvel’s top team shows up to rain on his parade.

To be honest if Simon had gone a more political way for his outburst to begin with and not targeted Avengers physically I would have had trouble ignoring his comments. The press meeting has its intended effect however with public and media asking more questions than the Avengers can answer. The true shocker in the book is when he is captured and interrogated by the Avengers. The revelations here , if true could be another faux-pas which could be put straight at the Scarlet Witch’s already burdened shoulders. ( sometimes i think Wanda has just become Bendis’s excuse for changing status quo).

All in all a good fun ride, if over the top and sometimes highly derivative

SCORE : 6/10

Akshay's Picks

Fatale #1

Story: Ed Brubaker

Art: Sean Philips

If you have, like me, been reading all the collaborations between these two mega-talented fellas then all I'll say is this: In keeping, still unique and just as good as always, if not better!

For everyone else who is not so familiar with them, you will know Ed for his ground-breaking work at Marvel on Captain America since before Civil War and still going. Well what not all readers should know but don't, is the vast world of crime-fiction and noir story-telling that he has crafted with the able pencils of Philips complementing his ideas at every step with Criminal being maybe the most acclaimed.

Here though they've gone in a whole new direction and as the title suggests it centre's somehow around a woman – a real femme fatale, that mysterious woman who has an allure you can't define and simply cannot deny, no matter the consequences. Who is she? What is her story? Where did she come from and from what is she running? All is referenced but ever so gently that you leave more in the dark then when you started. With a brisk pacing and fairly simple and limited exposition, Brubaker allows the art a lot of space and lets the reader build to anticipation and then leaves you dangling a cliff – one I'll definitely be holding on to till the next issue!

SCORE : 8/10

Lil' Depressed Boy #8

Story: S. Steven Struble

Art: Sina Grace

This is a series I started only after it was already four-issues out but I randomly read the first and was immediately hooked – and this new latest issue, though a little delayed, is nothing short of yet another excellent issue. Following the adventures through life of, in my view, the near perfect “everyman” for today's generation has been a total blast and pulls on so many heart-strings while never crossing into cliché or melodrama. This is one of the most honestly simple yet deeply human comic I've read. Picking up right after last issues road-trip excitement, we follow LDB through some more ups-and-downs as he and returns home and we see the return of Jazz and how she throws our hero out of sorts – will LDB be able to make his peace? Will he become what he fears? Can he and Jazz stay in each others lives? I would strongly recommend reading and finding out!

SCORE : 9/10

See you all in another week folks, and always, if there are comics you want to know about - just ask!
Cheers!