marvel comics | the m0vie blog

Brian Michael Bendis’ Avengers – New Avengers Vol. 5-6 (Hardcover) (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on April 6, 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.”

You know, at this stage I’m wondering what an Avengers book might look that wasn’t plowing from one event (Secret Invasion), through another event (Dark Reign), towards yet another event (Siege). I actually quite enjoyed Bendis’ opening two arcs on New Avengers, before the book effectively became the primary tie-in to whatever big crossover event was happening in the Marvel Universe on a given month. It was Grant Morrison who once wrote that every panel in a comic book should be an event, and I agree – stand-alone series don’t gain any extra validity by tying themselves in to a big crisis crossover. Make the stories themselves compelling and worry about the “event” later.

The evil empire…

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: avengers, bendis, brian michael bendis, dark reign, iron man, joss whedon, luke cage, Marvel Comic, marvel comics, matt fraction, Savage Land, secret invasion, skrull | Leave a comment »

Thor by Walt Simonson Omnibus (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on April 5, 2012 by Darren

Read our review of The Avengers here.

Walt Simonson’s run on Thor is one of the truly great Marvel runs of the eighties – along with Frank Miller’s take on Daredevil and John Byrne’s tenure on The Fantastic Four. It’s great to have that entire run – and the Baldar the Brave miniseries – collected in one absolutely giant omnibus, which stands as one of the greatest accomplishments of Marvel’s collected editions department. Did I mention that it has been lavishly recoloured for the occasion? Because it has. And it’s spectacular.

A snake in the grass (and pretty much everywhere else)...

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: arts, Asgard, brian blessed, frank miller, iron man, joss whedon, kenneth branagh, marvel comics, marvel omnibus, New York City, Online Writing, stan lee, Surtur, thor, thor by walt simonson, thor by walt simonson omnibus, walt simonson | 9 Comments »

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

Posted on April 3, 2012 by Darren

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...

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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. III (Review)

Posted on March 21, 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 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...

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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...

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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.

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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 »

John Carter: Warlord of Mars Omnibus (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on March 8, 2012 by Darren

I have to admit, I have a huge amount of respect for Marvel’s Collected Editions department. Their superb “Omnibus” line, aimed at collecting giant volumes featuring entire runs on particular characters or series, hasn’t just been reserved for their iconic stable of heroes. For example, we’ve seen a three-volume set of Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan’s Tomb of Dracula, along with complete runs of Jack Kirby’s Eternals and Devil Dinosaur. In celebration of the release of John Carter, Marvel has produced a single hardcover collection of their twenty-eight issue (and three annual) series John Carter: Warlord of Mars, from the mid-seventies. Featuring an all-star group of creative talents, it’s an interesting look at a classic comic book that doesn’t involve tights or spandex, instead offering pulpy old-fashioned adventure.

An alien adventure...

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: Barsoom, Burroughs, carmen infantino, chris claremont, dave cockrum, disney, Edgar Rice Burroughs, frank miller, gene colan, gil kane, Gods of Mars, jack kirby, John Carter, John Carter (comics), John Carter Omnibus, John Carter: Warlord of Mars, John Carter: Warlord of Mars (comics), mars, Marv Wolfman, marvel, marvel comics, Princess of Mars, The Walt Disney Company, Warlord of Mars | 2 Comments »

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

Posted on March 7, 2012 by Darren

“It’s Omaha Beach. Wounded Knee. Rorke’s Drift, The Killing Fields, the first day on The Somme. World War Three in North Jersey. And only now, pouring automatic fire into a human wall — do I feel something like peace.”

– Frank Castle, In the Beginning

I don’t like The Punisher as a concept. It’s not some out-dated “heroes don’t kill” or “I need a good guy to be morally straightforward”, it’s more that the character is extraordinarily childish. This is the very embodiment of the nineties anti-hero explosion, the bubble in the mid-nineties which say Wolverine become even more outrageously (and inexplicably) popular, turned Ghost Rider into a major player in the Marvel Universe, and saw The Punisher hold down three (yes, three) monthly comic books. This is a guy who wears a skull on his T-shirt and kills criminals… that’s his schtick. And somehow, he became “uber-kewl”.

Armed and dangerous...

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: Boys, Comics, danny mcbride, Garth Ennis, history, in the beginning, kitchen irish, marvel comics, marvel knights, marvel knights: punisher, marvel universe, Northern Ireland, Omaha Beach, punisher, punisher max, PunisherMAX, review, the punisher, World War Three | 2 Comments »

Mike Carey’s Run on Ultimate Fantastic Four – Vol. 4-6 (Hardcover) (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on November 23, 2011 by Darren

Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Fantastic Four, I’m taking a look at some of the stories featuring the characters over the past half-century.

Ultimate Fantastic Four was never really the crown jewel of the Ultimate line. It wasn’t ever as consistent as Brian Michael Bendis’ 100+ issues on Ultimate Spider-Man, nor as zeitgeist-y as Ultimate X-Men (which had the success of the X-Men trilogy to back it up at least). Instead, like Fox’s Fantastic Four movies, Ultimate Fantastic Four was just… well, just kinda there, really. To be fair, I dug Mark Millar’s twelve-issue run on the title. Hell, I even enjoyed elements of the opening arc by Millar and Bendis, and the year-long run by Warren Ellis that followed. However, Mike Carey’s run is somewhat disappointing. This was the run which essentially saw the series through to the big Ultimatum event, and perhaps it justified the decision to clean the slate when it came to Marvel’s Ultimate line. Because, whatever Carey’s run was, it certainly wasn’t consistently fantastic.

That surfer dude looks spaced...

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: brian michael bendis, Comics, cosmic marvel, Devil, four cubed, ghosts, god war, mark millar, marvel comics, Mike Carey, psycho man, robert kirkman, thanos, the silver searcher, the silver surfer, ultimate comics spider-man, Ultimate Fantastic Four, Ultimate Galactus Trilogy, ultimate marvel, ultimate spider man, ultimate universe, ultimate x-men | Leave a comment »

Fantastic Four by John Byrne Omnibus (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on November 23, 2011 by Darren

Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Fantastic Four, I’m taking a look at some of the stories featuring the characters over the past half-century.

John Byrne’s Fantastic Four run is pretty major as Marvel comic book runs go. It’s generally regarded to be one of the better comic book runs of the eighties, alongside Frank Miller’s Daredevil and Walt Simonson’s Thor, but it’s also widely regarded as the best run on Marvel’s flagship family since Stan Lee and Jack Kirby finished their record-setting run establishing both the series and the shared Marvel Universe. (The length of the run has since been surpassed, appropriately enough, by Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley on Ultimate Spider-Man.) This was my first time reading the run, which has received the massive omnibus treatment from Marvel. I have to admit, while not quite blown away by it, I was remarkably impressed by the love and craftsmanship that Byrne poured into the run. I wouldn’t class it as iconic or genre-defining, but it’s a remarkably solid examination of the franchise that launched the Marvel Universe.