Witchblade #139 – Review
By Ron Marz (writer), Michael Gaydos (guest artist), Troy Peteri (letters)
The Story: After the exceptionally traumatic events of the last few issues, Sara is ordered to see her Department’s psychiatrist. Following the appointment, she makes a trip to the cemetery to visit her sister’s grave, but runs into the master of the Darkness in the process.
What’s Good: As much as I absolutely loved last month’s one shot, it felt rather ill-timed and I’m very glad the focus is back where it belongs—on Sara’s quest to find and recover her daughter. Or at least her attempts to deal with the emotional and psychological fallout from the event.
Ordinarily the lack of actual action and plot progression in this issue would bother me, but Marz does such a fantastic job with the characterization, and his dialog sounds so real and is so moving, that keeping the action part of this story (at least temporarily) confined to the Artifacts title doesn’t do either book any harm. I’m not sure how long my patience will hold out on that front, but as long as Marz keeps his writing at this level, and as long as Artifacts continues to deliver solid plot progression, I don’t think I’ll have much to complain about.
I have to give special props to Michael Gaydos. I was extremely disappointed when I heard this issue would be drawn by a guest artist–especially after Stjepan Sejic’s bravura outing on #138—but Gaydos knocks this one out of the park. While his art is nothing like the hyper detailed, cover-worthy panels that are Sejic’s signature, Gaydos’ rough but expressive pencils and colors are perfect for this story. (His full page splash of Ground Zero in New York is one of the most beautiful and haunting renditions of that famous image I’ve seen.
What’s Not So Good: This is a nearly impeccable issue. If were to single out anything, it would be Sara’s rather odd desecration of Kenneth Irons’ tomb. It’s not a gratuitous scene, nor is it terribly out of character, but the transition from Sara mourning at her sister’s grave, to her tearing apart a mausoleum feels forced and awkward. I understand that pages and panels are limited, but spending a little extra time on that tone shift would have made things a bit smoother.
Conclusion: Can I just say how much I love Witchblade lately, and Top Cow’s direction in general? Compelling storytelling, beautiful artwork and dynamic characters make this a series not to be missed.
Grade: A
-SoldierHawk
Filed under: Image Comics, Top Cow Tagged: | Witchblade, Ron Marz, Michael Gaydos, Comic Book Reviews, Weekly Comic Book Review, Troy Peteri, Witchblade #139 review, Witchblade #139
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New Avengers #6 – Review
by Brian Michael Bendis (writer), Stuart Immonen (pencils), Wade von Grawbadger (inks), Laura Martin & Rain Beredo (colors), and Chris Eliopoulos (letters)
The Story: A mystically roided up Wolverine takes on Agamotto for the fate of the universe.
What’s Good: This arc has bothered in a way; Bendis seems so intent on convincing us of the scale and stakes of this conflict but, perhaps due to the facelessness of the bad guys, I never quite bought into it. Last month’s issue promised a mystic battle of epic proportions, yet again, but this time, we get an issue that truly delivers on that. New Avengers #6 is just as big in scope and action as it promises to be.
The duel between Wolverine and Agamotto is well done, with Agamotto taking on various forms from the Marvel Universe and Wolverine’s past. It feels explosive and, well, powerful and in that sense, it does what it’s meant to. What really helps out the duel, however, is how Bendis emphasizes the Avengers team and keeps it from being just “Wolverine vs. Agamotto.” By watching the battle, showing concern, and giving support, the battle with Agamotto instead feels like a team effort by friends and, as such, it becomes a lot easier to root for Wolverine and emotionally invest in the battle itself. It’s one of those situations where Bendis is really able to highlight the chemistry this team has.
The conclusion of the conflict will no doubt be a source of some controversy, but the event itself is well done. Bendis delivers on his promise of a major character death and, all told, it’s done in good taste. The character goes out in truly heroic fashion and it feels appropriately important and massive in scale. Better still, it leaves behind a new and very compelling villain. It also leads to an excellent final page where Daimon Hellstrom wonderfully sums up who the New Avengers are and what makes them unique as a team.
The real star this month, however, is Stuart Immonen. His action scenes are as exciting as ever and his characters are, as always, very likable. What’s really awesome though is how he alters his style when depicting Wolverine’s duel, which is rendered in a really awesome, almost painted feel.
What’s Not So Good: Yeah, that character death. As I say, the event itself is a blast to read and it’s all very tastefully done, but it’s hard not to be miffed at just who gets killed.
I’ll try my best not to give it away, but it’s a character that had so much potential. Worse still, Marvel, Bendis in particular, ironically enough, have done so much to build the character up over the last year or so that killing the character off now seems almost like a betrayal. Perhaps this will be a short absence for the Avenger, which would admittedly be a bit more acceptable, but right now, it feels as though Marvel didn’t know what to do with the guy/girl, so just pushed him/her off the table.
I also found Ben’s dialogue to be a little off this month. Ben has a very distinctive voice, so much so that Bendis can’t get away with having him say throwaway lines that sound exactly like any other character. He may be able to get away with that now and then with some of the other Avengers, but not Ben.
Conclusion: Mixed feelings about that death aside, this is a fun issue that provides a strong finish to an at times uneven arc.
Grade: B
-Alex Evans
Filed under: Marvel Comics, Reviews Tagged: | Spider-Man, Marvel Comics, Iron Fist, Danny Rand, Avengers, Fantastic Four, Brian Bendis, Stuart Immonen, New Avengers, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Wolverine, Ms. Marvel, Peter Parker, The Thing, Brian Michael Bendis, Mockingbird, Comic Book Reviews, Marvel Universe, Dr. Strange, Weekly Comic Book Review, comic reviews, Ben Grimm, Alex Evans, Victoria Hand, Eye of Agamotto, Dr. Voodoo, Heroic Age, Bobbi Morse, Daimon Hellstrom, Marvel mystic, Avengers Mansion, Agamotto, New Avengers #6, New Avengers #6 reviewCatch Up on Spider-Man Just in Time for 'Big Time' [Spoilers]
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Amazing Spider-Man's latest status quo shake-up hit this week, and it's officially code-named "Big Time," where Peter Parker's got a job, a girl, and all of his supervillains newly pissed at him. "Brand New Day" is over, but not invalidated, so those 101 issues the Spider-Man Braintrust wrote still matter. Dan Slott is the sole writer of the series, with art courtesy of Humberto Ramos, Stefano Caselli, and Marcos Martin. "Big Time" is a brand new jumping on point, so after the jump, we've got the lowdown on the characters you need to know about to hop in feet first.
PETER PARKER
The Parker luck looks like it has finally turned around. Peter's got a girlfriend, a sweet gig with a couple teams of Avengers, a fantastic supporting cast, and a brand new job that requires he work with a group of mad scientists for a fat paycheck. Or maybe that Parker luck is acting up again and his new job is going to end up being the cause of a whole bunch of new problems. Honestly, there's no maybe about it--it's going to cause problems and Spider-Man is going to have to fix them, but hey! At least he can pay rent now. Long story short, at the beginning of "Big Time," Peter Parker is the same old friendly neighborhood Spider-Man we all know and love.MARY JANE WATSON
MJ is back in New York City, hosting a TV show, and generally getting reacquainted with her old friends, including Parker. They have a friendly but barbed relationship, with MJ providing a much-needed voice of reason and perspective when Parker needs it. They're at the point where they can laugh about their former relationship, and since MJ is his only friend who knows his secret identity, it's fair to say that he depends on her quite a bit.NORMAN & HARRY OSBORN
Remember that time Norman Osborn weaseled his way into somehow being in charge of national security? As expected, his crazy started acting up again, and this time he ended up invading Asgard, causing a massive loss of life, and generally looking like a douchebag on live television. In exchange for his insanity, he was locked up under the watchful eye of Luke Cage and kept far away from Peter Parker. While a grassroots movement of criminals sporting Green Goblin tattoos is building steam in the background, Osborn is safely locked up and, as far as Amazing Spider-Man goes, not a going concern right now.Harry Osborn, Parker's best friend, is also not currently a going concern. He recently found out that he's the proud papa of a new little baby, and he's determined to raise the kid right. He screwed up huge with Normie, his other son, and rather than continue the Osborn family streak of terrible attempts at fatherhood, he's trying to turn everything around. He's never too far away from a hard turn into classic Osborn family problem solving, as he proved with a butt-kicking when Vin Gonzales made the mistake of threatening him at his own party.
AUNT MAY
Aunt May got married to J Jonah Jameson's dad, which officially makes JJJ and his worst enemy brothers-in-law. Hijinx have already ensued, and will likely be in the process of ensuing for the foreseeable future. May, on the other hand, has a warm-hearted husband who definitely isn't a supervillain (remember the time she almost married Doc Ock?) and is pretty well off at this point. She's got a nice penthouse in the city, a nephew who may finally be hitting his stride in terms of career, and she can truly relax for the first time in a long time. All things considered, Brand New Day was probably kindest to Aunt May, which is kind of cool.CARLIE COOPER
Carlie Cooper, forensic specialist for the NYPD, is Parker's new girlfriend. To be perfectly honest, there isn't too much you can say about her just yet. Her dad's a crook, her best friend turned into a Goblin, and she's dating a guy who may be the second least eligible bachelor in New York City (Daredevil is a true blue Lothario, but is currently possessed by a demon). Carlie's a good lady, and will hopefully curb some of Parker's poorer tendencies while they date. The trick will be infusing her with a personality that is distinguishable from, say, Betty Brant or a 2010 version of Gwen Stacy. She's very wholesome, and I can't believe I'm saying this, but that doesn't necessarily make for a compelling relationship.VIN & MICHELE GONZALES
Michele Gonzales has been a well-deserved thorn in Peter Parker's side over the past couple years, what with her insistence on good roommate practices like staying informed, paying rent on time, paying rent period, and cleanliness. Their relationship was rocky, fraught with screaming and near evictions, but, y'know, that's life with Peter Parker. Now that her brother is out of jail, Michele is done with Parker and New York City altogether. She's headed back to Chicago, or more likely, comic book limbo for the next five years.
Vin is another story. He's fresh out of jail after serving some time for cheating on his duties as a cop, and no other cop wants anything to do with a snitch. That's good, though, because it's clear that Vin's time in jail changed him. He's sporting a brand new Green Goblin tattoo, and that means nothing good. His aforementioned threat to Harry Osborn still resulted in him getting his butt thoroughly kicked, though, so he clearly didn't learn how to fight in prison.
DOCTOR OCTOPUS
The chubby, badly dressed Otto Octavius is gone, as the years of physical stresses from being constantly exposed to radiation and battered by superhuman fists has taken its toll on his body. The revamped Doc Ock has ramped up his use of technology in his escapades, with several different types of octopus-themed gadgets, scouts, and killer robots at his beck and call. He's standing at death's door, but he absolutely refuses to step through. Instead, he's searching for a cure to what ails him, and he plans to get it by any mean's necessary. Octavius is out of patience and out of time, so he's willing to go to horrible and groundbreaking depths to cure himself. If Spider-Man gets in the way, Ock is more than happy to pay him back for years of concussions and embarrassment.RHINO
Alexei Sytsevich, the original Rhino, retired from his life of crime. He found a wife and a new life, and he was happy for the first time in years. Past sins have a way of coming back and causing problems, however, and in this case, the problem was an all-new Rhino. The new Rhino wanted to be crowned as the genuine Rhino, and that meant beating his predecessor. Alexei's wife dies by accident during the attmempt, and in a rage, he kills new Rhino and returns to his former life. Now, Alexei absolutely hates Spider-Man for interfering in his life, and wants him dead, but this doesn't prevent the human being who was once known as Alexei from shining forth on occasion. When faced with the prospect of killing Spider-Man, but putting a baby's life in danger in the process, Alexei chose to let Spider-Man pass and return to their battle at a later date. The relationship between Spider-Man and Rhino is complicated now in a way that it wasn't before, and for the better.THE LIZARD
The Lizard got an upgrade in a bit way. Curt Connors has been purged from the Lizard's body after the tragic death of his son, leaving the Lizard with the intelligence of Connors but the brain of a cold blooded reptile. The new Lizard is faster, deadlier, and unlike any Lizard that came before. Its cold, reptilian intelligence manifests in both a casual lack of respect for human life and the ability to whip the reptile hindbrain of organisms into a fury. In other words, when the Lizard's around, people go crazy and get hurt. The Lizard is currently loose in New York, struggling with reconciling the scientific knowledge of Connors with its simple reptile brain. Tags: big time - BigTime - dan slott - DanSlott - spider-manEmail This var currentCatSel = "cat-marvel";';MORE FROM OUR PARTNERS 
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Friday 12 NovemberBy Chris JonesNeutral
Thanks for doing this. I picked up Big Time and couldn't make heads or tails of a lot of it, but this definitely helps. Now my only question is, who was that weird guy in the mailroom that I apparently have to read "Green Goblin" #1-13 to know about?
ReplyFriday 12 NovemberBy The Amazing Justin Palm!NeutralThat was Phil Urich, Ben Urich's nephew, who went around as the fourth, good guy Green Goblin for a few years in the 90's. Right around then Norman came back from the dead, and that was about the end of his career in comics until now.
Friday 12 NovemberBy Zachary LachenbruchNeutralHe also appeared in the 2nd volume of Runaways. He was the co-founder of the Former Teen Hero Support Group.
Friday 12 NovemberBy Chris JonesNeutralOkay yeah, wow, I would never have picked up on that from the comic. Thanks for clarifying!
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