REVIEW: Before Watchmen: Minutemen/Silk Spectre

PLOT: As the predecessor to the Watchmen, the Minutemen were assembled to fight against a world that have more and more rapidly begun to spin out of control. Can these heroes from completely different backgrounds and with completely different attitudes on crime come together? Or will they fall apart before they begin? SILK SPECTRE takes an introspective look at the WATCHMEN feature player's struggles with her overbearing superhero mother and her scattered path toward taking the mantle of the Silk Spectre.

REVIEW: Before Watchmen has either gotten more dull as I've read through the collected volumes, or I read them in the perfect order of quality that I'm now getting to the crappy volumes. I wasn't so much a fan of this volume that chronicles the story of the Minutemen told mostly through the eyes of Nite Owl. I liked the side plot, that seemed like it should have been the main plot, of Hooded Justice and the missing children but it didn't really progress as quickly and as predominately as it should have. Everyone practically knows the small story of the Minutemen as present in the original Watchmen graphic novel and even the movie. The Silk Spectre half was also decent, but again it was just a lot of background to something that already been explained well enough for me the first go around. I'm finding that a lot of these Before Watchmen arcs center on characters that were already pretty well fleshed out and didn't need much more explaining, as I've gotten to more familiar characters and they've gotten less entertaining. Plus what is with writing so much on each and every page, I find a lot of the thought bubbles and informational boxes are pretty unnecessary and I wish there was a lot less to read because it's all pretty boring. This volume and the last one I read suffer from what I like to call, over-writing, because there's too much written on the page that the reader doesn't need to know at all because most of us reading these, read the original Watchmen graphic novel. I know these comics could have been a lot better if they wouldn't have tried to be so entirely faithful to being exact and precise prequels to Watchmen. Here's hoping that the one I have left will be better than the rest of them, because Comedian and Rorschach were the two best characters and that's the volume I haven't read. Plus if Azzarello is involved, odds are that I'm going to enjoy myself right?

WRITING : ( 6 / 10 )

ARTWORK : ( 6 / 10 )
STORY : ( 4 / 10 )

COVERS : ( 7 / 10 )

AWESOME : ( 3 / 10 )

FINAL RATING : ( 5 / 10 )

REVIEW: Batman: The Dark Knight, Volume Two: Cycle of Violence

PLOT: The Scarecrow has returned to Gotham City, but he's no longer the meek punching bag Batman is used to. The villainous genius has always preyed on the worst fears of his victims, but has refined his legendary fear toxin to even greater effectiveness and deadlier consequences. As the Scarecrow's origin is unfurled, Batman must find out not only how to conquer this dangerous psychopath, but how to beat his own worst fear.

REVIEW: Yet another brilliant New 52 Batman entry. Batman: The Dark Knight, Volume Two: Cycle of Violence does amazingly dark things for the character of Scarecrow and it really frightens on the page. The way that Scarecrow is drawn is just haunting, with his lips sewn together but still having the capability of talking. Hell, half his jaw is hanging off of his face for some of the book and he doesn't even seem to notice. Everything about this volume is dark and gritty, and it's unforgiving. Scarecrow is probably the scariest I've seen him in a Batman comic, and Batman is nearly at his most helpless against him. Struggling to remember why what he does is right by him, Scarecrow makes Bruce's journey through his mind that much more difficult when he loads him full of a new, and more powerful fear toxin. There aren't really any other villains in this book besides the Penguin who makes a small appearance when the Scarecrow is prepping his newest plot. This isn't the strongest of the New 52 Batman titles, but it surely makes a point to be one of the darker entries. If you like your Batman in the shadows with a side of spooky, this volume of Batman: The Dark Knight is definitely for you.

WRITING : ( 7 / 10 )

ARTWORK : ( 9 / 10 )

STORY : ( 8 / 10 )

COVERS : ( 9 / 10 )

AWESOME : ( 9 / 10 )

FINAL RATING : ( 9 / 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 )

REVIEW: Bloodshot, Volume One: Setting the World on Fire

PLOT: Your name is Angelo Mortalli. Your brother is trapped behind enemy lines and on the verge of - no. That's not right. Your name is Raymond Garrison. You've retired from the dangers of the field, but a desperate plea from your oldest friend plunges you into a vicious firefight that - no. That's not right, either. You are Bloodshot. You are the shade of gray that freedom requires. The perfect confluence of military necessity and cutting-edge technology. A walking WikiLeaks. A reservoir of dirty secrets that could set the world on fire. And you've just been captured!

REVIEW: Never before had I heard of the character Bloodshot, but you can imagine by the cover above I had to pick it up and at least see what it was about. I have to say I was quite surprised with how awesome this was. I reviewed the first volume of Harbinger a couple weeks back (also new from Valiant), and said how that was surprisingly good as well. Where that one has the goods, this one has all the same elements but maybe a notch up higher on the scale. Bloodshot is a straight up bad ass, and when he finds out that all he's been fighting for what was merely a dream, he lets loose on anyone who stands in his path to redemption. I particularly loved the cells where Bloodshot had been shot or injured, and he was regenerating and bringing himself back to live. Just truly cool, hard adult violence in the comic and I always love to see that. I cannot wait to see what a second volume has in store, and the covers for the issues in here were amazing. I would definitely recommend Bloodshot to any fans of action, science fiction, both, or blood, because this comic has it all.

WRITING : ( 8 / 10 )

ARTWORK : ( 9 / 10 )

STORY : ( 9 / 10 )

COVERS : ( 10 / 10 )
AWESOME : ( 10 / 10 )

FINAL RATING : ( 9 / 10 )

REVIEW: Harbinger, Volume One: Omega Rising

PLOT: Super-powered teenager Peter Stanchek is on a dangerous path. Skipping across the country in a desperate attempt to stay one step ahead of the authorities, Peter is quickly realizing that he's a psionically-charged "harbinger" with the potential to reshape the course of human history. But Peter's plight has not gone unnoticed. Respected philanthropist and fellow harbinger, Toyo Harada, is about to offer Peter the chance at the things for which the boy has always longed - family, inner peace, self-control - and induct him into the sprawling, secret network of conspiracy and subversion known as the Harbinger Foundation. Now, Peter begins his long road towards a destiny that will shake the very foundations of the Valiant Universe. His first lesson? All power comes with a price!

REVIEW: This was a pretty bad ass little read. Lots of different cool superpowers at play, and a cool but uncompromising hero. After reading this volume, I'm much more excited for the potential of the story. The illustration is also great, very easy to look at. Often times with lesser known comics, it's the art that can throw someone off of a good story. This series does a great job of keeping the reader entertained visually while they're learning a whole new world and its characters.

WRITING : ( 6 / 10 )

ARTWORK : ( 8 / 10 )

STORY : ( 7 / 10 )

COVERS : ( 7 / 10 )

AWESOME : ( 7 / 10 )

FINAL RATING : ( 7 / 10 )

REVIEW: Hellblazer, Volume One: Original Sins

PLOT: The very first Hellblazer collection ORIGINAL SINS is available in a new edition that includes John Constantine’s appearances in SWAMP THING. This is the first of a series of new HELLBLAZER editions starring Vertigo’s longest running antihero, John Constantine, England’s chain-smoking, low-rent magus.This first collection is a loosely connected series of tales of John’s early years where Constantine was at his best and at his worst, all at the same time.

REVIEW: Having only seen the movie previously, I wasn't really sure what to expect from Hellblazer. At times I felt like that writing was a bit outdated. It was that kind of comics writing that I don't particularly like these days, because it's too wordy and over thought. A lot of what is written in these pages are the same thoughts I'd have on my own while reading, just using bigger words and taking longer to reach a conclusion. That said, my first Hellblazer experience was great. I really enjoy the character of John Constantine because while he's hard ass on the outside, there's a soft core to him. The issue where he saved the girl from being married was good evidence of that. His ghosts haunting him, also show that once he loses someone that's not it, he actually cares for the person he loses and it's not something that goes to the back of his mind, it stays in the front and relevant to anything he experiences. I would definitely keep reading the Hellblazer series, and I really enjoyed seeing the Swamp Thing tie-in issues. I had read one of those before in a Swamp Thing volume but I didn't quite understand what was going on, and now I do! There was one thing missing from these issues of Hellblazer, and while I can't tell you what it is, I know that that one thing would make this series rival something like Sandman. All the pieces are there, but there's one string that would tie it all together very well, maybe like an overall arc that would strengthen the story of Mr. John Constantine.

WRITING : ( 6 / 10 )

ARTWORK : ( 9 / 10 )

STORY : ( 5 / 10 )

COVERS : ( 8 / 10 )

AWESOME : ( 8 / 10 )
FINAL RATING : ( 7 / 10 )