REVIEW: Uncanny Avengers, Volume One: The Red Shadow

PLOT: The Marvel Universe's greatest era starts NOW!, as the all-new, all-different Avengers assemble! Captain America creates a sanctioned Avengers unit comprised of Avengers and X-Men, humans and mutants working together...so why is Professor Xavier's dream more at risk than ever? The Red Skull has returned - straight out of the 1940s and full of hatred - and his rebirth will alter the Marvel Universe forever! What are the Skull's new powers? Can Havok and Thor defeat the spreading influence of Honest John, The Living Propaganda? As Rogue and Scarlet Witch find themselves trapped on the Isle of the Red Skull's S-Men, Wolverine and Captain America investigate the worldwide mutant assassination epidemic! Uncanny Avengers Assemble! Plus: from the ashes of AvX, the funeral of one of Marvel's greatest heroes! 

REVIEW: I have yet to read the Avengers vs. X-Men event in Marvel comics because I own it and can take my time, but apparently this volume deals heavily with those events. I was able to get into the story for the most part though. I'm starting to sort of get sick of these Marvel NOW! titles claiming to be something new and bold in the Marvel universe, but most of it strikes me as the same old stuff. This volume of Uncanny Avengers focuses on the return of Red Skull in modern times, and he has taken control of Charles Xavier's brain after his death. He is using it to control the population and even minds of the mutants to do his bidding, but also is blackmailing hero teams to do the very same. I like the Red Skull as a villain, and I think he is very terrifying but at the same time. However, this book does little to nothing to differentiate itself from the multiple Avengers and X-Men books that are out right now. What Marvel NOW! has failed to do with their titles is create a clear and concise story for each character or character group, and suck the reader in to the new Marvel NOW! titles. Uncanny Avengers definitely wasn't the worst that I've read from the reboot series, but it definitely did little to impress me. It does leave off with a good scene that will hopefully carry into the next volume and propel it to higher levels. Unfortunately though, I find myself hoping for this with a lot of the current Marvel NOW! titles. I got a great kick out of the Deadpool variant at the end of the book.

WRITING : ( 8 / 10 )

ARTWORK : ( 7 / 10 )

STORY : ( 6 / 10 )

COVERS : ( 8 / 10 )

AWESOME : ( 5 / 10 )

FINAL RATING : ( 6 / 10 )

REVIEW: Captain America, Volume One: Castaway in Dimension Z

PLOT: Thrust into a bizarre, inhospitable world far from home, the all-new, high-adventure, mind-melting, tough-as-nails, sci-fi, pulp-fantasy era of Captain America is NOW! Arnim Zola's ambitions leave Captain America stranded in the upside-down territory known as Dimension Z. With no country and no allies, what's left for the Sentinel of Liberty to protect? Just the one thing that his foe values most...Zola's son! Steve has saved the boy's life, but can he keep him alive against the savage barbarians of Phrox - with the fate of a world hinging on his victory? Plus: introducing Jet Black...the woman who's waited her whole life for the chance to destroy Captain America! Meanwhile, Zola's plans continue to move forward - and threaten to curse Steve Rogers for years to come.

REVIEW: This is my first journey with a Captain America comic, but I have a feeling that this is okay with this Marvel NOW! series. I have to say that this is the boldest entry yet, as the story seems very atypical of Captain America but also fitting. He gets stuck in an alternate dimension and befriends a young child who he claims as his own, and as time passes they both struggle to live in this new world. I like how ambitious Captain America is not only with the story, but also with the art. The artwork is pretty great, and it really helps to paint the portrait of a normal man in a strange world. This story doesn't seem like a typical story for this Avengers hero, though I could be wrong, but it takes place over a course of years and sees the Captain from confidence to losing hope. What I liked most about this comic was the fact that it was dark, and unforgivably dark at that. Captain America is a pretty light-hearted hero though he deals with large threats usually to the country or the world, like most heroes anyways. I like the attempts at trying for a darker audience though, because that is something Marvel NOW! has yet to successfully do.

WRITING : ( 8 / 10 )

ARTWORK : ( 9 / 10 )

STORY : ( 9 / 10 )

COVERS : ( 8 / 10 )

AWESOME : ( 8 / 10 )

FINAL RATING : ( 8 / 10 )

REVIEW: Captain Marvel, Volume Two: Down

PLOT: Former Captain Monica Rambeau returns, but what's her problem with Earth's new Mightiest Hero? What threat is lurking below the ocean's surface? And can both Captain Marvels stop it before they get ship wrecked? Then: Carol finally returns home, but is changed. What is weakening Captain Marvel's powers? How will the lifelong high-flyer react when she discovers that she can no longer fly?

REVIEW: It could have gone either way on the second volume of Captain Marvel, because at first it's not much to be impressed with and I was really annoyed by some of the choices with the writing and pacing. But as it goes on, it only continues to get better and drop a huge bomb on the character that will ensure drama for a bit. The first half, Carol Danvers is reunited with an old friend as they try to defeat a gigantic robot that was unearthed in the sea by Captain Marvel. What I didn't like about the first two issues with this battle was that all of the characters on the page were having pretty intense conversation during the fight with the robot. And it's not even like it was when there was a break in the action, it was just mid-fight and the characters made small talk about things they'd heard. I wasn't really a fan of this choice, and I think had the action been taken care of first, the book would have been able to show off some more complex art without text, and then take care of the dialogue after the fight was drawn out. But then, Captain Marvel returns after this journey to take on some wildly random villains in the city. As the story unfolds, you are learning more about the tumor that is in Carol's brain that has given doctors reason to tell her that she can no longer fly unless she wishes to further endanger her life and risk it all for her superpower. As this progresses, the story becomes a lot more intricate and poses legitimate questions for the character and has implications for the entire last four issues of the volume. I really liked this part of the book, and the story was really great. Captain Marvel is easily one of the better titles still from Marvel NOW!, and I'm looking forward to more now that a villain has returned!

WRITING : ( 6 / 10 )

ARTWORK : ( 7 / 10 )

STORY : ( 8 / 10 )

COVERS : ( 6 / 10 )

AWESOME : ( 7 / 10 )

FINAL RATING : ( 7 / 10 )

REVIEW: Captain Marvel, Volume One: In Pursuit of Flight

PLOT: Ace pilot. Legendary Avenger. One hundred percent pure bad-@$$. Carol Danvers has a new name, a new mission - and all the power she needs to make her own life a living hell. As the new Captain Marvel, Carol is forging from a challenge from her past! It's a firefight in the sky as the Banshee Squadron debut - but who are the Prowlers, and where has Carol seen them before? And how does secret NASA training program Mercury 13 fit in? Witness Captain Marvel in blazing battlefield action that just may change the course of history! Avengers Time Travel Protocols: engage!

REVIEW: Because this was a Marvel NOW! title I wasn't really expecting too much, plus with it being a character I'm not entirely familiar with I didn't figure I'd enjoy this much at all. I was really surprised at how much I like this title, and while it's not the greatest of characters it was enjoyable. I find it surprising that it's the second tier characters in Marvel that are getting the best treatment with this re-branding of all their characters in Marvel NOW!. Carol Danvers has a wit about her that makes her really fun to read, and I think it helps to have a female writer on board to give her that authentic female feel. All of the dialogue between her and all the gal pals she meets throughout her journey really feels right and not forced. It's rare that a character you really don't read, piques your interest and gives you a fun read that you can buy into immediately. I will be interested to see where this series goes, and if it continues to get any better as her character develops. This one of those volumes that definitely serves as an introduction to the character, so that may be why it's relatively easy to connect from the beginning. Go figure that Captain Marvel is one of the very few titles to impress me from Marvel NOW!, which still furthers my opinion that New 52 stories are above and beyond Marvel's new structure.

WRITING : ( 7 / 10 )

ARTWORK : ( 7 / 10 )

STORY : ( 7 / 10 )

COVERS : ( 6 / 10 )

AWESOME : ( 5 / 10 )

FINAL RATING : ( 6 / 10 )

REVIEW: Avengers, Volume One: Avengers World

PLOT: The greatest heroes in comics together on one unbeatable team! The Avengers "go large," expanding their roster and their sphere of influence to a global and even interplanetary level. When Captain America puts out his call - who will answer? Big threats, big ideas, big idealism - these are the Avengers NOW!

REVIEW: Well it's about time I stumbled across a Marvel NOW! title that didn't completely suck. In the Avengers, a clear and complex enough storyline presents itself on the first pages. Ex Nihilo, creator of change and good in the universe has captured the Avengers and plans to recreate everything in his vision. It's a plot of grand scope, and it completely incapacitates the Avengers which to do at the beginning of a story is pretty bold. It ends up resulting in a much greater resolve of conflict though at the end of the book, and seeing the whole team of Avengers together and rescuing each other is awesome. I really like in this volume that before each issue there is an Avengers crest like thing on the page, along with all of the names of those in the group, and then the ones that are in bold and not faded out are the characters that will be in the issue. It's something small but I thought it was neat to see and keep track of who you'd be looking for in the action in each issue. Other than that, it's a fairly normal comic. The artwork doesn't stand out in any way, but the story does because it's surrounded by a lot of garbage in the rest of the Marvel NOW! catalog currently. Let's hope that Avengers isn't the only title that is of a little quality in Marvel's Phase NOW!

WRITING : ( 6 / 10 )

ARTWORK : ( 6 / 10 )

STORY : ( 7 / 10 )

COVERS : ( 6 / 10 )

AWESOME : ( 6 / 10 )

FINAL RATING : ( 6 / 10 )