May 15 Comic Week in Review

This week for our written comic book reviews we covered a couple comics that were talked about on Comicast #81 and a few that weren’t. Enjoy our reviews of Thunderbolts #9, Avengers: The Enemy Within #1, Red Hood & The Outlaws #20, He-Man And The Masters of The Universe #2, and Batgirl #20.

DC

Batgirl #20 $2.99

Writer: Gail Simone, Artist: Daniel Sampere & Carlos Rodriguez 

Instantly I got a creepy vibe from this issue. The art could definitely be better.  It's very inconsistent and its obviously due to too many collaborators on art. Some parts look great, a few are messy but most look mediocre. The story kind of reminded me of the Sopranos with Barbara Gordon talking to her psych about being Batgirl without actually saying it. Any part of the book with this "ventriloquist" retained the creepy vibe. The progression of the story was pretty interesting. I'm liking the direction this story is going and I'm interested to see where it goes.
Verdict: weak BUY

He-Man & The Masters of The Universe #2 $2.99

Writer: Keith Giffen, Artist: Pop Mhan

The issue starts exactly where it left off. At the beginning of a battle betwixt Adora and He-Man. His sister, Teela, gets involved and complicates the fight. The art is intense, colorful, and powerful all at the same time. Teela is really hawt by the way. The king of Eternos, King Grayskull, meets up with the broken factions of Eternia. Apparently all of Eternia was attacked on every front at the same time. King Grayskull informs his people that the attackers are that of lore, myth, and much more technologically advanced than they are. Its time to come up with a battle plan. Adora discovers their location and decides to attack. I'm too young to know much of anything about He-Man but this book has sucked me in. The art is always impressive, dialogue is deep, and story is well done.

Verdict: BUY

Red Hood & The Outlaws #20 $2.99

Writer: James Tynion IV, Artist: Julius Gopez

First off I have to talk about the art because it is absolutely stunning. The colors are bursting with energy. The panel design and structure is mind blowing impressive and awesome. The story is based off of an idea, the result of the idea, and how all parties are affected. If your life has been plagued by darkness and you wish to get rid of all memories connected to the darkness, what is left? Will you remember your family, friends, loved ones? Kori and Roy are left with a Jason Todd that no longer remembers them. At first they go after the being that absolved their friend of his darkness but he soon reveals to them the weight he was bearing. Now conflicted where do they have to go from here? Perhaps it was all a set up. There are many questions left to be answered but they won't be resolved in this issue.

Verdict: BUY

Marvel

Avengers: The Enemy Within #1 $2.99

Writer: Kelly Sue DeConnick, Artist: Scott Hepburn

The art from the main Captain Marvel title is odd, different, and takes some getting use to but this art is just ugly. I can't stand it. It irritates the crap out of me. The dialogue is wonderful though as DeConnicks usually is. It's one thing to make Captain Marvel ugly as Marvel has been doing it for months but to make Spider-Woman hideous is a task and a travesty. I won't deny that there are glimmers of impressiveness in the art from time to time. Honestly it just seems like another well written Captain Marvel DeConnick story. If I had to compare the art to anything I'd have to say an ugly Raphael Albuquerque(American Vampire). Though there are moments of inspiring art I overall dislike it and therefore could not bring myself to pay for this but the story is great and well written.
Verdict: STRONG SKIM

Thunderbolts #9 $2.99

Writer: Daniel Way, Artist: Phil Noto

The art perplexes me. The reason is because I've seen this artist do great work and there's flashes of that throughout but overall it feels lackluster. The story is definitely more interesting than it has been especially with the incursion of Crimson Dynamo and the inclusion of its creator Ivan Vanko. There were quite a few cool moments. Deadpool is an idiot but I feel like he would still know what's kind of going on. All I know is that Frank Castle looked horrible this entire issue. I almost missed Steve Dillons Punisher. There's no doubt this series would read better in trade as the issues are very inconsistent especially when it comes to the writing. It seems like the first couple issues of a story arc are shrouded in mystery and then the next couple reveal what is and has been going on. Unfortunately that doesn't leave much for the conclusion.
Verdict: SKIM

You can pick up these comics at Kaboom Test Labs or Twin Suns Comics & Games