22nd July comic reviews

Captain Britain and MI13 #15 Cornell/Kirk

Shame that this is the last issue of course, but Cornell wraps everything up well, with the usual great interaction between characters. Kirk's art doesn't seem quite as good as earlier but no real issues. Gold

Guardians of the Galaxy #16 Abnett/Lanning/Craig

Thought this was a great one-off trip to the future to meet the classic Guardians. DnA establish these characters quickly and effectively and there is some great interaction between the two teams. I liked the cartoony art, made an interesting change from the norm. Gold

Nova #27 Abnett/Lanning/DiVito

Fast-paced issue of Nova, really liked the interplay between Nova Prime and King Blastaar, great art. Gold

X-Force #17 Kyle/Yost/Choi/Oback

A reasonable issue, mainly catching up after Messiah War. Pretty good art, though the depictions of an overpowered Surge are brilliant. Bronze

15th July comic reviews

Batman: Streets of Gotham #2 Dini/Nguyen
Disappointed that the threat of Firefly is over so soon, but good to see the characters' civilian lives getting some focus. Great art. Silver
Manhunter Andreyko/Jeanty
Interesting continuation of Kate Spencer's search for her predecessor's killer. Silver

New Mutants #3 Wells/Neves
Another good issue with very good art, Legion's multiple personalities make the fight scenes interesting. Silver

X-Factor #46 David/Santucci
The plot thickens, even as more is revealed. Silver

War of Kings: Warriors #1 Gage/Asrar/Magno
Pleasantly surprised with this, two interesting stories that shed more light on Gladiator and Blastaar. Both artists produce good work. Silver

1st July comic reviews

Batman and Robin #2 Morrison/Quitely
Great character work on Dick and Damian and Alfred's motivational speech, yet more brilliant artwork by Quitely, not sure how well this series will work without him. Really love the sound effects as part of the art, particularly when Robin gets smacked into the wall. Gold

War of Kings #5 Abnett/Lanning/Pelletier
The War of Kings rushes towards it's climax, but DnA don't neglect their characters, continuing to develop them well. Gold

Exiles #4 Parker/Jones
Another good Exiles issue, the characters are mostly more interesting than their normal counterparts. Jones' art is good, though I preferred Salva Espin. Silver

Viking #2 Brandon/Klein
Klein's art is brilliant, the variety of art styles he uses from panel to panel really makes Viking an exciting book to read. It seems that this issue is still setting up the characters and the story for future issues, and on the first read I wasn't acquainted enough with Finn and Egil to be sure which was which as the issue progressed. Silver

June comic reviews

Haven't done anything on this blog for the last month because my laptop went haywire (three times in three days, after which I gave up on it, finally). So, I haven't been doing any reviews of comics as I don't get enough time sharing this laptop to be messing about with this.

Therefore, I think I'm going to run down all the comics I bought in June (if I remember all of them), but I think this time I'm going to give maybe just a quick comment or two, and then score them Gold, Silver, Bronze and then Negative for a negative review, if I have any.

War of Kings #4 Abnett/Lanning/Pelletier
Genuine surprise ending, brilliant scene with Crystal and Ronan. Paul Pelletier proves himself again to be one of Marvel's best artists. Gold

Batman and Robin #1 Morrison/Quitely
Great debut issue by one of the best creative teams in comics, looking forward to exploring Dick as Batman and Damian as Robin, as well as the Circus of Strange. Gold

Exiles #3 Parker/Espin
Bought (along with #1 and 2) on recommendation from comic shop guy, very good, funny, compact story, great art from Salva Espin, really like the character designs. Gold

Captain Britain and MI13 Annual Cornell/Collins/Alphona
First story sets up Meggan's return in #14, second is a British take on the X-Men baseball games of old. Quite enjoyable but not brilliant. Bronze

New Mutants #2 Wells/Neves
Still quite a mysterious story, though it's quite deep in continuity with Legion as the main antagonist, still accessible. Silver

X-Factor #44 David/De Landro/Santucci
Features two of three subplots running at the moment, great character work, both artists produce consistent and compatible work. Silver

War of Kings: Savage World of Skaar Gage/Nolan/Brown
Tie-in to War of Kings, not sure how important it really was, but interesting to put the spotlight on Gorgon and Starbolt. Bronze

Batman: Streets of Gotham #1 Dini/Nguyen
Pretty good, interesting different perspective on the new Batman, Dustin Nguyen's art really good. Silver
Manhunter Andreyko/Jeanty Introduction to Kate Spencer's new role as Gotham DA and vigilante. Silver

Cable #15 Swiercynski/Olivetti
I've quite enjoyed Messiah War, though it seems it could have been shorter. Olivetti's art doesn't seem as good as earlier in the crossover but still has it's moments. Bronze

Captain Britain and MI13 #14 Cornell/Kirk
Liked MI13's ploy of using Plotka, have to go back and see if there were any clues in previous issues. Spitfire turns on Dracula and has a great emotional moment. Look forward to seeing Meggan's part in the final issue next month. Gold

War of Kings: Ascension #3 Abnett/Lanning/Alves
Shows behind the scenes of WofK #4 as well as setting up Christopher Powell for a lot of trouble. Silver

Detective Comics #854 Rucka/Williams
Absolutely incredible art and panel layout by JH Williams III, Rucka starts to show more of Batwoman's character. Very accessible introduction to the character, fills in all you need to know about previous appearances. Gold
The Question Rucka/Hamner
Good to see Detective Comics living up to it's name with Renee Montoya as the Question investigating a girl's disappearance, art also good. Silver

Guardians of the Galaxy #15 Abnett/Lanning/Walker
Yet another brilliant issue of Guardians, with great action and character interplay. Walker's art is very good again, only one complaint being his design of Rocket Raccoon which had been better in recent issues regressing to what it had been in his earlier stint. Gold

Nova #26 Abnett/Lanning/Di Vito
Richard Rider gets back to business as Nova Prime while Robbie goes after Strontian. I really love Di Vito's work on Nova. Silver

Wolverine: Weapon X #3 Aaron/Garney
Wolverine starts to take apart Strikeforce X, but I really liked the focus on the investigative reporter and Maverick's show of skill in taking down Blackguard's enforcers. Silver

X-Factor #45 David/De Landro/Santucci
Madrox and Layla visit a decrepit Doctor Doom, still with his superiority complex and more of the Cortex puzzle is revealed. Silver

X-Force #16 Kyle/Yost/Crain
The final chapter of Messiah War is quite enjoyable, though doesn't really resolve anything about Hope. Elixir now knows something important about her, but for some reason I can't see we're not told what it is within the crossover. Crain's art is perhaps not as good as previous issues, with some panels very fuzzy, though there is a very good splash page of Apocalypse and Archangel. Bronze