March 15, 2014 Comic Week in Review

Pablo Gunner uses the little intelligence he has to muster up some written comic book reviews of the titles that he thinks his fellow nerds would want to know about most and the books that didn’t quite make it onto the Comicast. Check out these reviews of Secret Avengers #1, Fantastic Four #2, Avengers Undercover #1.

Marvel Comics
AVENGERS UNDERCOVER #1 ANMN
(W) Dennis Hopeless (A) Kev Walker (CA) Francesco Mattina
2.99
One thing is for sure and its that this is the series that is berthed from Avengers Arena. I only read a few issues here and there at the beginning of Avengers Arena but I could never really get too into by reading the issues. I felt that reading it in trade would be much better and to be honest I was tempted many a time to try it again but fought the urge. This book is about some of the tortured, surviving crew left over from AA, as I have been calling it. The description solicits that these characters are going undercover but thats yet to be seen. One of these disturbed individuals has come out of AA hungry for revenge, hunting, and destroying any inkling of connection to Arcade, the man that created this Murder World that tortured these young heroes and powered individuals. Anyway this guy going after Arcade has disappeared and has been missing for weeks now so his buddy, also one of the crew, calls up the rest of them to help him find their friend. The art was good, very cartoony, and goofy. Everybody’s hair, legs, and arms are elongated or exaggerated in some way. The tone is dark, funny, goofy, and cartoony. I felt this issue got me caught up on some of what happened in AA without giving too much away and at the same time sparking interest in what I had missed. If you liked AA you’re probably going to like this as its much in the same vain especially considering that it’s the same creative team but not quite as dark, yet. Overall it was a decent read. I’ll probably check out the next issue but no promises.
Verdict: STRONG SKIM
FANTASTIC FOUR #2 ANMN
(W) James Robinson (A/CA) Leonard Kirk
3.99
This issue was “MEH”. Creatures appear out of nowhere destroying NYC. Franklin, son of Sue and Reed, if you don’t know by now, explains that they are twisted version of creatures of a world a made up. Reed tries to figure it out while every superhero in NYC fights these things off. He figures it out and Human Torch is forced to save the day which results badly for him. As I said it was very “MEH”. It happened and thats that. The art wasn’t bad in facts the paneling designs were really neat, unique, and different, especially for this book. Somehow it just didn’t fit or work. The characters just seem very bland and boring to me, like cookie cut-outs of the characters they’re supposed to be. This book fails to invoke empathy, care, or any kind of passion for these characters. They seem like shells of their former selves. I blame mod of that on the writing but I feel like the art should be lending a hand in that department too. They’re just dropping the metaphorical ball.
Verdict: weak SKIM

SECRET AVENGERS #1 ANMN
(W) Ales Kot (A) Michael Walsh (CA) Tradd Moore
3.99
It started off slow but by the end I was actually having fun and I was a little scared too. Hilarious censorship abound and wounded warriors left me fairly impressed. The story kind of jumped all over the place throughout. At first it was very confusing but as time went on it became more clear. With a more clear focus this book would definitely be one of the top picks for the week. It seems like a lot of boos are trying to emulate what the Hawkeye book was doing mostly in the art department. This book definitely does that in fact it even steals a comedic note from an issue and adds to it. At first it came off as an annoyance to me as I’d rather an artist do their own thing but as it got further into the issue I came to appreciate and notice that the art was only like that for the scenes that included Hawkeye whereas other parts looked slightly different that had other characters. I surprisingly enjoyed this issue. It’s not the best number one issue but I liked it. Just so you know the art doesn’t look anything like the cover art so you needn’t worry about that. It kind of looks like a mixture of Declan Shalvey’s art(Moon Knight) and David Aja(Hawkeye). The story is a little convoluted and all over the place but it should be easier to follow once the characters all join up.
Verdict: weak BUY

You can pick up these comics at Age Of Comics or 



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