Graig Kent Comic Reviews

Avengers Arena surprisingly became one of my favourite reads, and I'm sad to see it end. I would recommend it to anyone who likes this sort of thing, but those easily angered and emotionally attached to fictional characters might wish to tread lightly.

Coming back to the question that we started with" is it worth it? For me the answer is yes. If you've been enjoying the ride so far, then yes. If you're on the outside ready to come in then yes. Even if you've missed the previous chapters of Zero Year, this still gives you enough of a bang to be satisfying. Even for $7. It's the max limit mind you, but yes it's worth it.

I don't know if Snyder, Tynion IV, Fabok and company were intending this to be a pulpy lark, but at this stage if the book is going to have any merit, it may well be as a ridiculous, overblown, so-bad-it's-good anti-failure. But I think it's intention is to be far too earnest, lacking any real self awareness, and as such it's fine, but homogenous.. a tune I've heard all too often.

It's evident that I'm not a super-fan of the Buffyverse, though I do like it a lot, and I appreciate the level of storytelling craft Whedon and company put into the show while it was on the air. I also never undervalue the importance of Buffy as powerful and necessary pop-culture icon. The comics, however, struggle to live up to that model because, for the most part, it's not the same thing as television. Despite Season 8"s weirdness, it felt more like what a Buffy comic book should be, bigger and more eventful. Season 9 has been intentionally reserved to fit in more with the general show aesthetic but, in doing so, it doesn't stand out as much on a very active comic book rack.

I can't recommend it, and I'm undecided as to whether I will continue reading it or not myself (though Taylor nicely hints at what's to come after Dr. Fate comes out of his tussle with DarkSeups, and I am intrigued), but I wouldn't dissuade anyone from reading it either or mock them for finding this terribly entertaining.

You can sense the conflict I'm having. On the one hand, I appreciate the attempt at a modern twist on Diabolik, and I'm sure by being outside Marvel continuity it aides Hope's vision, but on the other hand, here was a chance to do and steamier, more seductive pop-art version of Diabolik, one which Francesco Francavilla's spot on cover suggests, but instead feels like an Archer knock-off, only more cartoony.

Like Snyder's Batman, this 25th issue of Green Arrow is longer in length and features a back-up story connected to the main story. Here, illustrated by Denys Cowan (in really fantastic form), Lemire further cements Diggle's role in the comic book mythos of Green Arrow, planting seeds to flower at a later date.

A grindhouse film plays out its story in earnest. Oh, it knows it's trash, and generally revels in it, but it does so with honest enthusiasm for doing so. Tarantino has made a career out of turning grindhouse into art house and then into the award winning mainstream, but De Campi and Peterson scale it back to its trashy, low-fi roots and they definitely are reveling in it. Still borrowing inspiration from Tarantino/Rodriguez's 2008 effort, G:DOAM features posters for currently non-existent grindhouse stories from other artists, like Tim Seely's "Jackie Lantern: Demon Whore of Halloween". Much like the cinematic Grindhouse's fake trailers for Hobo With A Shotgun or Machete, these fake ads may actually come to reality should this series fare well. It's a fun proposition at least.

It's nice to see a new team book from Marvel, even a relaunch of an old one, that isn't yet another X-Men or Avengers franchise. It seems to me that the Marvel Universe has largely been divided into those two halves, and that there's less and less room for books to stand outside those two barely overlapping circles on the company's venn diagram. In this respect I worry for the New Warriors' future, but on the merits of the story and art alone I'm utterly pleased.

This is a tremendous looking comic, published on quality paper and with a creative talent that seems to genuinely like and understand the property. While I'm certain this is meant to primarily sell to fans of old, there's no reason it can't create more than a few new ones as well.

I have no idea where it's going, and it's decompressed as all hell, but with purpose, and the purpose is to showcase Jock's art. Have you ever seen Logan butcher a mite the size of an aircraft carrier? No, you haven't. But you can thank Jock for providing you the opportunity. This feels part western, part samurai, part post-apocalyptic, but it may be none of those things (or it may be all). We'll have to see, but it's definitely worth seeing.

It's a great, fun read for the kids, a passable read for adults, but it's so good looking that I can't not recommend it. More Batman-related team-ups are in store for the near future (as the series was originally supposed to be a Scooby/Batman team-up mini-series) but expansion into the DCU and beyond is in store.

Down the pipe we have at least six new films on the roster, a new cartoon series bridging the gap between episodes III and IV and, in a less positive light, the end of the expanded universe. In comic book terms, Star Wars is going New 52 on us, dispensing with anything that isn't the films (does that include The Clone Wars, I wonder) and rebooting the future (and the past) of the galaxy far, far away. Does it make a difference to the stories that remain to be told? I don't think so, or, at least, not yet. Rebel Heist may not remain canon for long, but it exposes the main characters in an unconventional light that's going to interest longtime fans.

Waid's scripting is flowery enough to be amusing (even getting another dig in at the cinematic Man Of Steel) but it doesn't save the weak story that it hangs upon. Once more I went into an Archie Adventure Heroes endeavor with great anticipation (I have an admitted abnormal affection for them) only to be disappointed again. The Fox is not a complete writeoff, but the next issue has to have a lot of bounce for it to really rebound.

This is an audacious comic. I've never had need of that word before but it fits here. I'm not even sure I like it, but it's just so different than anything I've ever seen, and I've read thousands upon thousands of comics to mind-melting effect. I am in awe. It won't be the same reading it in the inevitable collected edition, where it will just feel like the drawn-out illustrating of a fight, but here as a floppy, it's a unique artifact, true artistic expression wrapped in the middle of a silly genre mash-up.

At the moment, the book is all set up, and it hasn't quite taken flight yet. It's a story that will likely be better in its whole than in its parts, but Terminator fans and casual observers should find it an enjoyable one either way.

It's not a revolutionary title, but it's got a definite hook. Fans of action but with a splash of intrigue should be all on top of this.