comic books | the m0vie blog

S.H.I.E.L.D: Architects of Forever(Review/Retrospective)

Posted on April 9, 2012 by Darren

April (and a little bit of May) are “Avengers month” at the m0vie blog. In anticipation of Joss Whedon’s superhero epic, we’ll have a variety of articles and reviews published looking at various aspects of “Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.” Today we’re looking at a miniseries exploring the history of S.H.I.E.L.D., the organisation which has played a big role in the Marvel cinematic universe.

Jonathan Hickman is something of a rising star at Marvel, with his acclaimed work on Secret Warriors, Fantastic Four and Ultimate Comics: Ultimates, along with character-centric miniseries like Ultimate Thor and Ultimate Hawkeye. Much like Jason Aaron, the writer has demonstrated a remarkable ability with both the smaller cult characters in the universe, as well as some of its bigger names – it has been argued that Hickman has been doing fascinating things with characters who had stumbled a bit of late in Marvel’s shared universe, like Nick Fury or the “first family” of the company, the Fantastic Four. Hickman has a wonderful talent to combine old established concepts with clever new ideas to produce an interesting result. S.H.I.E.L.D., documenting the history of Marvel’s premiere espionage organisation, demonstrates this quite well.

At least what I understood of it.

The SHIELD protects us...

Continue reading →

Filed under: Comics | Tagged: Acura, Architects of Forever, Architects of Tomorrow, comic books, Comics, fantastic four, Infinity, IPad, iron man, Isaac Newton, Jonathan Hickman, Leonardo da Vinci, marvel comics, Marvel Studios, S.H.I.E.L.D, Secret Warriors, Shield, spider man, thor, Thor: Son of Asgard (Thor (Graphic Novels)), ultimate thor | Leave a comment »

Kurt Busiek’s (& George Perez’s) Avengers – Avengers Assemble! Vol. 1 (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on April 3, 2012 by Darren

April (and a little bit of May) are “Avengers month” at the m0vie blog. In anticipation of Joss Whedon’s superhero epic, we’ll have a variety of articles and reviews published looking at various aspects of “Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.” And so we begin, one month short of the release date…

It is good to be together again.

– Thor, Once An Avenger…

A lot of life is context. In order to fully appreciate things, you need to know the history and events which drive it. Kurt Busiek’s massive almost-five-year run on The Avengers is well loved by comic book fans, but is quite hard for me to get a read on. The plots are simple, the cast is over-crowded and the dialogue is corny. However, these are perhaps the reasons why the run is held in such high esteem, because the fictional Marvel Universe of 1998 was quite different from how it looks today.

Consider them assembled... all of them...

Continue reading →

Filed under: Comics | Tagged: Avenger, avengers, avengers assemble!, comic book, comic books, george perez, iron man, joss whedon, kurt busiek, marvel, Marvel Comic, marvel comics, marvel universe, once an avenger, Rob Liefeld, Scarlet Witch, thor, villains | Leave a comment »

Garth Ennis’ Run on Punisher MAX – Hardcover, Vol. IV (Review)

Posted on March 23, 2012 by Darren

To celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, this month we’re going to take a look at Northern Irish writer Garth Ennis’ run on that iconic Marvel anti-hero, The Punisher. Check back every Friday and Wednesday for a review of a particular section.

I don’t know. It seems like, at times, I run hot and cold to Garth Ennis’ Punisher MAX run. It’s frequently cited as one of the great runs of modern comics, and there are moments when – if I squint – I can see hints of that masterpiece everybody is taking at. At other times, it seems I’m wandering in the desert, staring at a perfectly functional comic book, trying to figure out what everybody is making such a big fuss about. This penultimate collection of Ennis’ run contains two great examples of this. On one hand, the collection opens with the incredibly pedestrian Man of Stone, while it closes with the smarter-than-it-appears Widowmaker. Neither story is a masterpiece, but the latter has a lot more insight than I’ve come to expect from the series, while the former takes an interesting premise and does nothing with it.

The Punisherette?

Continue reading →

Filed under: Comics | Tagged: comic book review, comic books, Comics, ennis, Frank Castle, Garth Ennis, history, marvel max, max, Northern Ireland, punisher, punisher max, PunisherMAX, Russia, Twentieth Century, Widowmaker | Leave a comment »

Garth Ennis’ Run on Punisher MAX – Hardcover, Vol. III (Review)

Posted on March 21, 2012 by Darren

I think I’m finally getting the hang of Ennis’ run on Punisher MAX. It seems that it’s pretty much positioned between two extremes: bleak nihilistic cynicism and depressing absurdist black comedy. I don’t think that any collection of Ennis’ work illustrates these two extremes quite as well as this one, collecting both The Slavers and Barracuda – the former undoubtedly Ennis’ darkest work on the title and the former probably the most ridiculously cynical comedy the writer has drafted for the character (at least on the MAXline). It certainly makes for one weird cocktail.

Frankly my dear...

Continue reading →

Filed under: Comics | Tagged: Barracuda, Boys, comic books, Comics, Frank Castle, Garth Ennis, marvel, marvel comics, marvel max, max, Northern Ireland, punisher, punisher max, Slavers, the slavers | Leave a comment »

Garth Ennis’ Run on Punisher MAX – Hardcover, Vol. II (Review)

Posted on March 14, 2012 by Darren

There’s a dream I have from time to time. And in the dream I don’t stop. I kill the soldiers and the hitmen, the extortioners and racketeers, the dark old &%^@s who send them out to fight– I hold the trigger down until they’re all gone–

But I don’t stop.

The innocents are just watching, like always. The slack jawed thousands, gazing at the beast. My family lie red and shredded in the grass. I face the crowd and bring the weapon to my shoulder. If my world ends, I tell them, so does yours.

The recoil starts and I wake up.

It’s just a dream, I always tell myself. It’s just a dream.

It’s just a dream.

– Frank Castle, Up is Down and Black is White

You know, I’m not entirely sold on the format of Garth Ennis’ Punisher MAX. It seems a strange thing to say, given how I’m slowly starting to appreciate what the writer is doing with the character, but I’m not convinced that the rigid six-issue structure that Ennis is adopting fits the character particularly well. Don’t worry, I know it’s a very strange and irrational complaint to have – partially because there’s so much else going on that merits discussion, and also because six-issue arcs have become the industry norm (because they fit the size of a trade paperback). That said, I think may have figured out why it bothers me so.

Gun play...

Continue reading →

Filed under: Comics | Tagged: brian michael bendis, comic book review, comic books, Frank Castle, fury max, Garth Ennis, geoff johns, james bond, MacGuffin, marvel comics, marvel max, mother russia, new avengers, nick fury, punisher, punisher max, review, Russia, the punisher, the punisher max, up is down and black is white | 2 Comments »

Garth Ennis’ Run on Punisher MAX – From First to Last (Tyger, The Cell, The End) Review

Posted on March 9, 2012 by Darren

It’s interesting. Collecting three one-shots from writer Garth Ennis involving the Punisher, this collection manages to skilfully capture everything I love and loathe about the Northern Irish writer’s take on the Marvel character. The three stories collected here – The Tyger, The Cell, The End – run the full range from the early years of Frank’s life, to his early career as the Punisher, through to the end of humanity itself. That’s a pretty huge scope for a writer, and it’s telling that Ennis can cover all that range in so few pages, so smoothly. There’s a lot of good clever stuff here, but there’s also the insanely juvenile stuff that so often seems to knock me out of Ennis’ Punisher just when it looks like I might start enjoying it.

To the ends of the Earth...

Note: This review is going to contain spoilers. In each case, it’s probably best you know as little as possible about these three stories heading into them. So, if I had to offer a quick recommendation, I’d suggest that they are essential for fans of Ennis’ take on the character, and capture and expand on his core ideas well. However, if you aren’t familiar with the character, there are better places to start (ironic, given two of these three are origins, after a fashion). If you can’t stand the Punisher… well, this won’t convince you.

Continue reading →

Filed under: Comics | Tagged: ant-villain, Anti-hero, arts, comic books, Comics, Edward Blake, Garth Ennis, lamb, marvel comics, marvel: the end, Online Writing, punisher, punisher max, punisher max: the cell, punisher max: the end, punisher: the cell, punisher: the end, punisher: the tyger, PunisherMAX, review, the cell, the end, the tyger, Tyger, United States, villain | 2 Comments »

Geoff Johns’ Run on Green Lantern – War of the Green Lanterns (Review)

Posted on February 22, 2012 by Darren

I think that Geoff Johns deserves to take the majority of the credit for pushing the Green Lantern series forward as one of the mostly highly regarded properties in DC’s stable of intellectual property. That the Green Lantern continuity was allowed to remain almost entirely intact represents a huge vote of confidence in Johns as a creator, and the work that he has done. Still, War of the Green Lanterns can’t help but feel like a bit of a disappointment. An attempt to do a “mini-event” contained to the franchise (similar to the successful Sinestro Corps War), War of the Green Lanterns suffers because it doesn’t have the same thematic through-line as its predecessor, one that engaged the reader throughout the carnage and crossovers. That’s not to say War of the Green Lanterns doesn’t have any good ideas, but that it’s too jumbled and mixed up to be great.

Mogo doesn't socialise...

Continue reading →

Filed under: Comics | Tagged: comic books, Comics, crossover, dc comics, dcnu, flashpoint, geoff johns, green lantern, green lantern: war of the green lanterns, peter tomasi, reboot, review, sinestro corps war, Tony Bedard, war of the green lanterns | Leave a comment »

Tony Bedard’s Run on Green Lantern Corps – Revolt of the Alpha Lanterns & The Weaponer (Review)

Posted on February 8, 2012 by Darren

As with Green Lantern and Emerald Warriors before it, Tony Bedard’s run on Green Lantern Corps feels like it’s trapped between two larger events, flowing out of Blackest Night and into War of the Green Lanterns. I think Bedard suffers a lot more than Geoff Johns and Peter Tomasi from this, merely because he’s new to the franchise – he did great work on R.E.B.E.L.S., but this is first time working with the cast of characters from Green Lantern. So, while Johns and Tomasi fall comfortably into their familiar routines, Bedard seems to struggle to find his feet, while telling his own story and managing the obligatory set-up for the next large-scale event.

That's the last time Sinestro calls Kyle a second-stringer...

Continue reading →

Filed under: Comics | Tagged: batman: arkham city, Bedard, comic books, dc universe, Ganthet, geoff johns, green lantern, green lantern corps, Guy Gardner, Hank Henshaw, john stewart, Kyle, Kyle Rayner, peter tomasi, Power ring (DC Comics), Revolt of the Alpha-Lanterns, sinestro, The Weaponer, Tony Bedard, war of the green lanterns | Leave a comment »

Geoff Johns’ Run on Green Lantern – Brightest Day (Review)

Posted on February 1, 2012 by Darren

It must be difficult to follow an absolutely huge event like Blackest Night, which cemented Green Lantern as one of DC’s largest franchises (perhaps second only to the Batman books under Grant Morrison). After all, the gigantic crossover was the culmination of over five years of work by architect Geoff Johns, and it might have been easy for the writer to pack it all in and call it a day. However, he didn’t. This collection, covering the entire New Guardians story arc, is very clearly a bridge between two big Green Lantern events – Blackest Night and War of the Green Lanterns. It also works a launching pad for a whole host of other titles, from Brightest Day to Emerald Warriors to Green Lantern Corps. However, the collection works at its very best when it is smaller in scope, and more intimate – when it pauses to wonder what happens to a world-saving superhero when the heat of the great big galactic threat has passed.

Hal's still got really poor self-image...

Continue reading →

Filed under: Comics | Tagged: Abin Sur, blackest night, brightest day, Carol Ferris, comic books, dc comics, geoff johns, grant morrison, green lantern: brightest day, green lantern: rebirth, green lantern: the new guardians, Greenlantern, hal jordan, Hector Hammond, lex luthor, Power ring (DC Comics), ryan reynolds, sinestro, the new gaurdians (review), the new guardians | 2 Comments »

Alan Moore’s Run on Swamp Thing – Saga of the Swamp Thing (Books #5-6) (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on January 17, 2012 by Darren

This January, I’m going to take a look at some of DC’s biggest “events.” You can probably guess which event I’m leading into, but I don’t want to spoil it…

Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing is a run to treasure. I mean, I’m looking forward to getting my hands on Scott Snyder’s new run on the character, especially since DC have decided to release it in hardcover, but Moore’s Swamp Thing remains one of Moore’s longer runs in mainstream comic books, demonstrating that it is possible for an extended in-continuity run on a (relatively) mainstream character to still transcend the expectations of the superhero genre. The eighties were full of fascinating creative ideas in comics, both in miniseries, independent and mainstream books, but I’d still argue that Moore’s Swamp Thing is remarkable due to its work redefining the superhero genre and its impressive length.