Albert Avilla Reviews: All New X-Men #1

All New X-Men #1
Mavel Comics

Reviewed by Albert Avilla

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Pencils: Stuart Immonen
Inks: Wade Von Grawbadger

Spoilers!
Bendis on the X-Men, gentlemen, I think we have a hit. This story is getting back to the roots of what the X-Men are about, finding new mutants and preparing them for the realities of the world.

Beast is going through another mutation that may kill him. Cyclops is still tripping, finding mutants, and recruiting them to his side. I thought he was locked up. He’s leading Magneto and the White Queen and calling themselves the X-Men. This is sure to be a real public relations problem for the real X-Men who are ready to shut Cyclops down; but Storm, the wise leader that she is, wants to take the high road. Saving lives is more important to her than her own agenda. Beast gets the idea that Cyclops needs to get back to who he is. Beast goes to the past to get the original X-Men to do just that.

I don’t like to say that one creator is better than another, but I can say that Bendis is an industry leader. This story is Claremont-esque. We get interesting plotline within interesting plotline. Hopefully, these plotlines won’t be resolved in a neat four issue format, but be true to Claremont form and have each plot leading into story after story. The possibilities are endless. I’m not ashamed to say that my expectations for this book were low; when I would see the ads for this book I would say, “What?” Bendis has made me so happily wrong. I’m ready to ride this rollercoaster.

The art speaks for itself. All that I can say is look at the rug when Scott and Hank are arguing in the past. I liked the contrast between youngster Cyclops and grown man Cyclops on the cover. Keep this creative team together. This was a symphony of art and words.

I rate All New X-Men #1 Recommend It to a Friend. #1 (of 5) on the Al-O-Meter Ranking

An I Reads You December to Remember

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Albert Avilla Reviews: Gambit #4

Gambit #4
Marvel Comics

Reviewed by Albert Avilla

Writer: James Asmus
Pencils: Clay Mann and Leonard Kirk
Inks: Seth Mann and Leonard Kirk

She’s the End of the World (Spoilers!)

This issue is the conclusion to the first story arc of the new Gambit series. Nothing significant happens in the story. Gambit and his lady open a portal to the realm of the gods to face a non-sentient feathered serpent. The story allows Gambit to show his resourcefulness and acrobatic abilities. He has an opportunity to save the damsel in distress. At one point Gambit enters the serpent and blows up its head from the inside. Where have we seen this before? Finally, Gambit gives up on trying to use the relic to close the portal and uses his powers to do the deed.

One prop that I can give the story is that it had action from beginning to the end. Gambit’s lady’s name is Joelle, and she has super powers which she doesn’t use to help Gambit. The story’s ending threw me for a loop. One minute Joelle is kissing Gambit and in the next, she’s knocking him out. If you want to break up, lets be cordial about it; there is no need for the violence.

On his return to New York, Gambit jumps into a car with a stranger. He ends up in the hands of Cich. I wonder what Cich has planned for him? Do you think he wants Gambit to steal something? A conclusion to a story arc should have a little more bang for your buck; this ended in a fizzle. The greatest challenge that Gambit faced was the hostile environment. This god didn’t wield very much power; it was just another big snake.

The art was an asset to the story. The artists were able to put large scenes in every panel. The scenes with Gambit and the serpent illustrate the size of the challenge that Gambit must overcome.

I rate Gambit #4 Read a Friends Copy. #3 (of 5) on the Al-O-Meter Ranking

Bleach: End of Bond

I read Bleach, Vol. 52

I posted a review at the ComicBookBin.

Albert Avilla Reviews: Astonishing X-Men #55

Astonishing X-Men # 55
Marvel Comics

Reviewed by Albert Avilla

Writer: Marjorie Liu
Artist: Mike Perkins
Cover: Phil Noto

Spoilers!
The bullets on the cover must have all been blanks, because that is what this story was shooting. I was under the impression that this title’s purpose was to give us cutting edge X-Men stories. This misses that mark completely.

The most intriguing part of the story was the flashback to Susan Hatchi’s earlier life. Hatchi turns the pressure on the X-Men to take over Madripoor. The airport is destroyed by a group of imposter X-Men. This group is so lame that they don’t have a name and the members don’t have code names. Normal humans using technology to imitate mutant powers; for the amount of effort it took the X-Men to defeat them they need to get a refund for that technology. The X-Men had them out of the picture before they could say two lines, and the X-Men had their powers taken away.

Tyger Tiger arrests the X-Men and takes them to a warehouse where Karma’s supposedly deceased father is waiting for them. Susan Hatchi shows up with a rocket launcher and blows up the warehouse. She expects to find buried bodies. They survived being buried under the rubble of a building and also survived attacks by some of the most powerful evil mutants ever. Why waste a rocket when you have nano-worms that control the X-Men’s bodies? Didn’t she threaten to kill Warbird and Northstar with the nano-worms? Am I the only one asking these questions? Who is to be held accountable for this? This is just irresponsible writing.

Overall the art is bland. The characters look roughly drawn. There is no detail in the background just a lot of pretty colors hiding a lack of effort. A few of the headshots do reveal some talent that is inconsistent.

I rate Astonishing X-Men #55 Read it in the Store. #4 (of 5) on the Al-O-Meter Ranking

Review: NEON GENESIS EVANGELION 3-in-1 Edition Volume 1

NEON GENESIS EVANGELION 3-IN-1 EDITION, VOL. 1
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

CARTOONIST: Yoshiyuki Sadamoto
ORGINAL CONCEPT: khara GAINAX
TRANSLATION: Mari Morimoto, Lillian Olsen
ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Fred Burke, Carl Gustav Horn
LETTERING: Wayne Truman, John Clark
ISBN: 978-1-4215-5079-4; paperback; Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”
528pp, B&W, $19.99 U.S., $22.99 CAN, £12.99 UK

Neon Genesis Evangelion is a Japanese science fiction anime (or animation) television series. Twenty-six episodes of the series were originally broadcast from October 1995 to March 1996. The anime had a comic book companion, Neon Genesis Evangelion the manga, which was produced by author Yoshiyuki Sadamoto. The manga actually debuted in the manga magazine, Shonen Ace, 10 months (December 1994) before the anime as a way to introduce the series to the public.

In addition to publishing single volumes (which are up to Volume 13 as of this writing), VIZ Media recently began reprinting the series in 3-in-1 editions, which gather three volumes in one large-sized, single volume. Neon Genesis Evangelion 3-in-1 Edition, Vol. 1 reprints Neon Genesis Evangelion, Volumes 1 to 3.

Neon Genesis Evangelion is the story of humans at war with hostile beings called Angels. The human side of the conflict is led by NERV, a paramilitary organization. NERV created giant biomechanical units or mecha called Evangelions (also known as EVA and Evas) that are piloted by teenagers. The lead character is 14-year-old Shinji Ikari, EVA “Unit-01” pilot.

The first three volumes of the series introduce Shinji and reveal how he was brought into the EVA program by 29-year-old Misato Katsuragi, the NERV operations chief who plans EVA missions. Shinji is also reunited with his estranged father, 48-year-old Gendo Ikari, who is NERV Supreme Commander. Shinji meets 14-year-old Rei Ayanami, called the First Child because she was the first to pilot an EVA.

After Rei’s EVA Unit-00 is damaged, Shinji and Unit-01 have to fight the Angels. These early stories also depict Shinji’s conflicted feelings about being an EVA pilot, but two of his classmates, Kensuke Aida and Toji Suzuhara, provide comic relief in contrast.

As I’ve previously noted, I knew of Neon Genesis Evangelion the anime, but had never seen it. My first direct experience with the franchise was reading Volume 12 of the manga last year. I enjoyed reading this Neon Genesis Evangelion 3-in-1 Edition more than I did reading Volumes 12 and 13. These early chapters are simple and straight forward.

Author Yoshiyuki Sadamoto uses Shinji Ikari as the vehicle through which we are introduced into the world of NERV and the Evangelion. As a lead character, I find Shinji a bit soft and unfocused. His moody, sad boy personality gets old after awhile, but he meets so many interesting characters (like his father) that he’s worth the trouble.

Of course, the giant robot battles are good, and Sadamoto composes them with imagination, so this is not just battle for the sake of battle. Sadamoto makes this interesting, mixing intrigue and melodrama with the anticipation of another attack. This is giant robot with quality soap opera, and that’s a good thing.

A-

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux

DC Comics from Diamond Distributors for November 28 2012

DC COMICS

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