Thursday, August 02, 2007

Weekly Comics Review for August 1st, 2007 -- SPOILERS

Well, I'm flying out for the family reunion tonight and still have lots to do so I'll have to be somewhat brief here. I have 4 books to review this week, World War Hulk #3, She-Hulk #20, New Avengers: Illuminati #4, and The Dark Tower #7.

World War Hulk #3 -- Now some may say that the army really didn't pose much of a threat to the Hulk and his allies but I still disagree. Look at what the superheroes have done to the Hulk, not much. With the adamantium laced weapons the army was at least dealing out a little punishment. Granted, once Dr Strange's little attempt at talking with Banner failed then it was back to "Hulk smash" but I felt they did put up a little bit of a fight. Perhaps I would have liked more, more bombs, more weapons, etc... but it's only a 5 issue series and the focus needs to return to the superheroes. I liked that we saw Banner and his interaction with Strange was really cool. Some people may wonder how Hulk was able to hurt Strange's physical body but I figure where magic's involved, who knows? I love how the Warbound are coming into the picture more and more, that it's not just the Hulk pounding the heroes but his allies who can better match them in the various areas (technology, magic, etc). I wasn't as thrilled with the ending of this issue as I was with previous ones, mostly because I don't really know enough about Dr Strange to understand exactly what he did. But overall, the characters remain on key and the smashing continues. I'm highly recommending this series.

She-Hulk #20 -- Well, Slott's leaving the book after the next issue so it was time to tie up all the loose ends he had going on. And it was a lot. So in a convenient little twist, we get the majority of She-Hulk's storylines wrapped up thanks to a whole host of flashback scenes. Taken on its own this book would have been highly confusing and frustrating for a newcomer to the series. For someone who has been reading the series, it's good that they finally tie some things up and explain what we've missed. And yet we get the cliffhanger ending leading to bigger things to come. So for fans of the series, it's probably a must read. For non-fans, you might be better avoiding it and picking up where Slott leaves off. The art continues to be a letdown for me. And last but not least, poor Awesome Andy. I'll miss him. So it's recommended for fans of the series but maybe not so much for someone who hasn't been reading it.

New Avengers Illuminati #4 -- I'm a little confused with how this issue ties together. First up, the cover depicts the love interests for the members of the Illuminati. Yet, other than Sue Storm, they don't appear in the book and Sue is just at the very end. They are mentioned in the beginning with a prologue that makes the Illuminati look like a bunch of clueless men who rant about how they will never understand women. Well, except for Namor it seems. Kinda weird having him be the smart one in the bunch. And Black Bolt's little hand gesture of shooting himself in the head when talking about Medusa seems really odd and out of character to me. But I'm sure it made a few readers (and Bendis) chuckle. But the prologue makes me hate the Illuminati even more to be honest. And then we have them visitting Marvel Boy. And to be honest, I got kinda bored of it. The whole time I was wondering how this ties in with the Young Avengers/Runaways series where Tony Stark and SHIELD okayed a program where a former villain brainwashes Marvel Boy to turn him into a mindless soldier for taking on the anti-registration side. Yeah, that was a great way to convince him not to continue his war against Earth. So again, I'm disappointed by how an Illuminati book doesn't really fit together and I dislike the characterizations. At this point, I just want Reed, Tony, Strange, Black Bolt, and Xavier (and maybe Namor to a lesser degree) locked up for being idiots and thinking they should control the world because they know what's best. Doom must be wondering how he's been given the label of "villain" all this time. I can't really recommend this series and I kinda wish it was never made.

Dark Tower #7 -- A strong ending to the series. Though it continues to feel like I'm just getting snapshots or part of the story this issue holds it together well. As I've said, the art has been hit or miss with me and it's a hit here. And just as everything is getting tied up nicely the big twist hits and we're reminded that the story is to be continued in the next volume. The ending really made me interested in what happens next. I really thought that this was going to be it for me but I guess we'll see how I feel in February. And overall, I think I'd put the series on my recommended reading list though you might be better off reading the novel. Though this gives those of us not interested in reading it a quick runthrough of the story.

So with that, I'm off to Nova Scotia. Reviews for next week will be delayed until the weekend.

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