Avengers #25
(Marvel)
Story : Brian Michael Bendis
Art : Walter Simonson
(Reviewed by Anubhav Sharma)
As I’ve said last week, I’m a big
fan of Bendis penned event tie-ins, mainly because he gets the level
of characterisation and depth stories as big as the events we’ve
been seeing for the last half decade which may not fit in well with
all the big action in the main books. At face value, one may not see
how relevant this issue is to AvX as a whole, but deep down it gives
much needed buildup on the Avengers side of the conflict at the core
of the event, and serves as a bridge between the recent Osborn
storyline and AvX. Captain America and the Protector, in particular,
get their motivations fleshed out, which explains some of the
former’s decisions in AvX so far and the latter’s solicited
actions.
Of course, one can’t talk about this
issue without talking about the return of legendary artist Walt
Simonson to Marvel. With modern colouring techniques showing is art
in a new light, it’s safe to say it as the same level of dynamism
he was known for at his best. Also, is Thor particularly looks as
majestic as ever.
SCORE : 8.2 / 10
B.P.R.D: The Long Death #3
(Dark Horse)
Story : Mike Mignola and John Arcudi
Art : James Harren and colors by
Dave Stewart
(Reviewed by Anubhav DasGupta)
This is the quintessential BPRD Battle
issue.
Wendigo v/s Were-Leopard Damio.
It’s brutal. There are spilling guts
everywhere. There’s blood on the snow.
And it’s fucking awesome.
But what I like the most about this
issue is that in the midst of all that blood and violence, it finds
the emotional heart of it. The Wendigo and Daimo are both monsters,
but in every closeup of their faces, you aren’t treated to enraged
animalistic faces. Their faces scream emotion and pain and anger and
sorrow.
I think this issue is a testament to
how far BPRD/Hellboy has come as a story and how far Mignola and
Arcudi have come as storytellers. The balance between action and
emotion is a difficult thing to strike, but the way these writers
handle it in this issue is nothing short of brilliant. And the pacing
is brilliant as well.
And James Harren. That guy is just
brilliant. His kinetic art and command of facial expressions makes
him the perfect artist for the story. It wouldn’t have been such an
amazing comicbook if it weren’t for him. He’s just so good with
everything!
I’ve got to cut this review a bit
short, because I don’t want to give away anything. There are no big
twists or big reveals, but there are big decisions, some really great
moments, that should grab you by the balls and let go only at the end
of the last page.
Read it if you’re a BPRD fan. If you
aren’t, get your hands on every BPRD TPB you can find because this
is comicbook manna and you’re missing out on something magnificent.
SCORE : 9 / 10
Batman #8
(DC Comics)
Story : Scott Snyder
Art : Greg Capullo
(Reviewed by Anupam Sarkar)
Even if you have been living under
a rock, the size of an astonishingly huge dinosaur, you should know
that The New 52's Batman is one of the hottest comics to have come
out. Batman #8 along with Nightwing #8 marks the beginning of the New
52's first big "crossover” of the bat-family event called
“Night of the Owls”.
In this issue, the Talons come to
the Wayne manor to finish off Bruce Wayne. This time though, there is
not one but 11 Talons(if I counted correctly) to finish the job.
After some kick-ass action, Bruce
is able to get a micro-drive from one of the Talon's gauntlet who was
stuck under Bruce's “lucky penny” (thanks to Alfred) while the
rest of the Talons keep following them.
So, Bruce and his butler get
inside a room in the bat-cave and lock themselves up. While Alfred is
busy scanning the micro-drive and reducing the cave's temperature to
sub-zero, Bruce gets dressed up to give readers the ass-kicking of
the decade. The issue ends with Bruce in a huge metallic Batman-like
suit greeting the Talons with “ Get the hell out of my house”
As you might've guessed, compared
to the previous issues, there's not much of a narration here, it's
more like a talk less and fight more type of issue.
One of the reasons why I love this
issue is Greg Capullo's art. It's kinetic, detailed and full of
action.
Another
reason why you shouldn't miss this issue is that it also contains a
back-up called “The Call” written By Scott Snyder & James
Tynon IV with art by (the most awesome) Rafael Albuquerque.
This back-up is also available in Night
of the Owls booklet which is available for free HERE.
SCORE : 9.7 / 10
Nighwing #8
(DC)
Story : Kyle Higgins
Art : Eddy Barrows (pencils), Ruy
Jose & Ever Ferreira (inks)
(Reviewed by Rijul Raut)
WARNING: CONTAINS (MINOR)
SPOILERS FOR BATMAN #8. GO READ THAT FIRST.
Nightwing wasn't a title I was
following, ever, but the recent NIGHT OF THE OWLS Bat Family
Crossover requires me to read through this issue. And what an issue
it is.
Higgins takes us to a time period in
Gotham that he and Snyder had earlier visited in the BATMAN: GATES OF
GOTHAM mini last year. This story, of (future) Talon William Cobb,
and his early life, sounds every bit the archetypical rags-to-riches
tale, but Cobb's ultimate fate casts a shadow even upon these events.
Woven in between the flashback is
Nightwing, struggling to protect Mayor Hady from the Talons while
avoiding them himself. It is suitably action-packed, and the final
couple pages are textbook-perfect cliffhangers.
The art is consistent in what I have
noticed is DC's in-house style, and the colours are more of the same,
nothing special.
SCORE : 7.5 / 10
Ragemoor #2
(Dark Horse)
Story : Jan Strand
Art : Richard Corben
(Reviewed by Anubhav DasGupta)
If you like Richard Corben’s art,
you’ll love this issue (and probably salivate over it) but if you
don’t or if you absolutely despise his art, chances are you’ll
puke over it, because this is totally Corben’s show and Jan Strand
just comes along to fill in some brilliant dialogues.
Now, if you’re a Corben fan, I’m
already preaching to the choir and you’ve already read this issue,
but if you aren’t familiar with this guy, read on…
So what’s it about? Ragemoor is a
sentient castle. It doesn’t make its sentience known by conversing
with anybody, but in a sense, it lives, and thinks and houses many
secrets and monsters.
Richard Corben is one of THE greatest
artists of horror. I’d put him right beside Mike Mignola and Bernie
Wrightson in the Horror Artists’ Hall of Fame, in fact. And he’s
absolutely magnificent in this. He uses blacks and whites near
perfectly, and almost every panel is perfect. Well, they would have
been perfect if the inking were of consistent darkness. There are
quite a few places were the inks appear to be faded, and it’s too
frequent to be a misprint. It’ll be gold if they somehow get rid of
that when it’s collected into a trade paperback.
Jan Strand’s writing is brilliant.
The dialogues are very good and do more than just get the job done.
There are some really good dialogues that take the creepiness factor
up a notch.
Two issues in, Ragemoor feels like an
extended story from a Creepy or Eerie Warren book, and that’s a
really good thing. It’s big on ideas, and big on creepy.
And if you haven’t read Ragemoor #1,
don’t be afraid to try this issue out. You can read and enjoy this
one with little knowledge of what has conspired before.
SCORE : 8 / 10
The Shadow #1
(Dynamite)
Story : Garth Ennis
Art : Aaron Campbell
(Reviewed by Akshay Dhar)
The Shadow. One of the most iconic,
influential and (nowadays) criminally little known crime-fighting
heroes ever. Written by Garth Ennis. Yeah, my head just exploded a
little. This first issue – near perfection, doing everything that a
first is supposed to do, with style.
This is one of those series that has so
much expectation and so far to fall if it fails that I was almost
determined NOT to read it when I finally got my copy. But for you
dear readers – and admittedly my inability to stop trying things
out – I took the plunge and I have rarely been happier! You see
I've been a longtime fan (well total geek-boy actually) of the
old-school style pulp heroes, amongst whom The Shadow is one of the
more famous. Sadly though, most folks don't remember the old stories
and the last comics he had were also an age ago – leaving just one
poor movie adaptation starring Alec Baldwin as its remembered
incarnation.
WELL NO LONGER!!
Here we get no origin story, no
explanation and no rationalisation – just the way it should be
because this is not meant for the kiddies and if you need to be
explained everything right off the bat and in stupid amounts of
detail, well then you need to stick to reading magazines please. He
is the Shadow, he is inhuman in ways we cannot imagine, he can cloud
the minds of men, he is fast and strong and deadly and knows a great
many dark mysteries – though what they are we don't and may not
really want to know!
In this opening salvo from Dynamite and
Ennis, we get a fast moving tale that is set some years before the
second World War has taken place and we see the machinations of our
dark hero as he takes down small fish and plots after the big sharks,
all the while calculating, predicting and plotting as he glimpses the
future to come and plans to deal with it accordingly. We get to meet
his civilian form – Lamont Cranston – and see him work with
British Intelligence agents and we get an idea further of how he does
his part but always has his own end-game and ways to achieve it.
Machiavellian and deadly at every step. And in the end of the issue
we get to meet the lady who walks with him, Margo Lane, though I
promise that it's nothing like any relationship you're used to seeing
in most stories and that adds so much more to the whole experience.
And finally, the artwork – I was not
sure how well it would turn out, but Campbell seems to have a serious
knack for the shadowy style of art that works best with this
character. Lots of heavy shadows and dark spots and a strongly noir
feeling are conveyed very well and even the contrasting day-time
scene in the cafe/restaurant came out pretty well – though clearly
his less bright pages are far superior. He could do with a little
fine-tuning on the faces, but not so bad that you can't stop staring
at it – one of the best #1's I've read and possibly the best (not
put out by Image) in the last few months.
If you like international mystery,
intrigue, murder, thrills, chills and a conniving b*****d for a hero
with action aplenty, check this new series out.
SCORE : 10 / 10
Well, that's all for another week of
new comics folks.
Are there any comics you'd like to
know about? Any questions or requests? Feel free to be in touch and
let us know!
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