#IReadsYou Review: SPIDER-GWEN Ghost-Spider #1

SPIDER-GWEN: GHOST-SPIDER No. 1
MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Seanan McGuire
ART: Rosi Kämpe
COLORS: Ian Herring
LETTERS: VC's Clayton Cowles
EDITOR: Devin Lewis
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Akira Yoshida
COVER: Bengal
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Andrew C. Robinson; Paolo Rivera; Jee-Hyung Lee
28pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (December 2018)

Rated  “T”

“Spider-Geddon” Part 1: “Uncharted”

Spider-Gwen created by Jason Latour and Robbi Rodriguez; based on Spider-Man created by Steve Ditko and Stan Lee

Spider-Gwen is a Marvel Comics title featuring a new version of Spider-Woman.  A spin-off character of the original Spider-Man, Peter Parker, the first Spider-Woman was Jessica Drew, and she debuted in Marvel Spotlight #32 (cover dated: February 1977).  Spider-Gwen is an alternate-universe version of the classic Spider-Man character, Gwendolyne Maxine “Gwen” Stacy, who first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #31 (cover dated: December 1965), who is also an alternate-universe version of Spider-Woman.

On Earth-65, Gwen Stacy, not Peter Parker, is bitten by a radioactive spider that gives her powers and abilities associated with Spider-Man.  Gwen becomes the superhero, Spider-Woman.  However, Gwen Stacy of Earth-65 is depicted as having a personality similar to that of Peter Parker, and she shares many of the conflicts that Parker is known for having.

Gwen/Spider-Woman got her first comic book series (5 issues), with the first issue cover dated February 2015, and a second series (34 issues), with the first issue cover dated October 2015.  Now, Gwen has a new comic book series, Spider-Gwen: Ghost-Spider.  It is written by Seanan McGuire; drawn by Rosi Kampe; colored by Ian Herring; and lettered by Clayton Cowles.

Spider-Gwen: Ghost-Spider #1 (“Uncharted”) finds Gwen back in the swing of things as Spider-Woman, although she learns via her encounters with the public that people call her “Spider-Gwen.”  While enjoying a meal with a friend, Gwen spots something odd.  It's Spider-Ham!  After meeting him, Gwen learns that the Inheritors are back, and Gwen has to join the other “Spiders” to battle them again.  This quick exit into the multiverse, however, will leave Gwen absolutely lost.

I have enjoyed most of the Spider-Gwen comic books that I have read.  Like the Mile Morales-Ultimate Spider-Man comic books, Spider-Gwen titles seem like and are indeed a fresh take on the core Spider-Man “mythos” and concepts.  Spider-Gwen: Ghost-Spider #1 starts a little soft, but the second half of this debut issue gets pretty intense.

I can learn to like the Ghost-Spider creative team of writer Seanan McGuire and artist Rosi Kampe, because while I enjoyed the team of writer Jason Latour and artist Robbi Rodriguez, I was not hung up on them.  Besides, McGuire and Kampe don't stray far, at least stylistically, from Latour and Rodriguez's work.  Letterer Clayton Cowles and colorist Ian Herring are doing good work, so I think that Spider-Gwen fans will be satisfied with this new title.  The ending of Spider-Gwen: Ghost-Spider #1 makes me want to read the second issue.  This is not great debut, but it is good reading.

6 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2018 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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#IReadsYou Book Review: SWORD OF KINGS

SWORD OF KINGS
HARPERCOLLINS – @HarperCollins

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

AUTHOR: Bernard Cornwell
ISBN: 978-0-06-256321-7; hardcover (November 26, 2019)
352pp, B&W, $27.99 U.S.

Sword of Kings is a 2019 novel from Bernard Cornwell, a bestselling British author of historical novels.  This is the twelfth book in Cornwell’s “Saxon Tales” series, his epic story of the making of England and his continuing story of pagan Saxon warlord, Uhtred of Bebbanburg.  “The Saxon Tales” series is also known as “The Last Kingdom” series (named for the first novel in the series), which is also the name of the television series adaptation.  Sword of Kings finds Lord Uhtred bound by an oath to insert himself in the middle of a war to determine who will rule Anglo-Saxon Christendom.

As Sword of Kings begins, Lord Uhtred is ruling his part of Northumbria from his family's fortress, Bebbanburg.  It is once more a time of political turmoil, and the first indication of this is that fishing ships in service to Uhtred begin to disappear.  Before long, Uhtred has evidence that his old political enemies want him dead.  Why?

King Edward is “Anglorum Saxonum Rex” – King of the Angles and the Saxons – King of Wessex, of East Anglia, and of Mercia.  His dream is to create one realm for everyone who is Christian and who speaks the “Ænglisc” tongue, a kingdom to be called “Englaland” (or England, of course).  But Edward has fallen ill... again.  Rumor has it that he is dying... or is already dead.  Because of such rumors, news, and speculation, Uhtred feels the tug of an oath he made to Æthelstan of Mercia, Edward's eldest son, that he would protect him.  Because Uhtred is certainly no oath-breaker and since Æthelstan will undoubtedly make a claim on Edward's throne, Uhtred must leave his beloved Northumbria and travel south to join the young would-be-king. 

However, the most powerful Saxon of Wessex, Ealdorman Æthelhelm, is a supporter of another candidate to be king, his nephew, Ælfweard, King Edward's second oldest son.  Uhtred would love to leave the Anglo-Saxons to sort out their own issues, but he has made an oath to one royal candidate, been attacked by the supporter of another, and received an unexpected appeal for help from still another candidate.  Thus, Uhtred leads a small band of warriors south, into the battle for kingship, a struggle that may finally see him dead.

THE LOWDOWN:  I have read the seventh through this twelfth entry in “The Saxon Tales” series.  I love these books, and as soon as I reach the last page of one book, I dearly wish the next book was immediately available.  George R.R. Martin, the author of A Song of Fire and Ice (the inspiration for HBO's Emmy-winning “Game of Thrones” television series), says that Cornwell writes the best battles scenes he has ever read.  I can say that Cornwell's “Saxon Tales” are kind of like a real life “Game of Thrones,” with Cornwell taking liberties with the story of the creation of England.

In my review of the previous novel in this series, War of the Wolf, I wrote that I had practically run out of ways to praise Cornwell.  Eleven books into the series, Cornwell's narrative should have run out of steam, but it did not.  This twelfth novel, Sword of Kings, finds the series as strong as ever.  In fact, Sword of Kings may be the best “Saxon Tales” novel yet.

Sword of Kings borrows from several genres.  It is at once a sea-faring novel, with tales of adventure and war.  Next, it is an espionage thriller with daring scenes and sequences of infiltration, entrapment, and escape from enemy territory and strongholds.  Sword of Kings is, at its heart, historical fiction that delves into the world of kings and nobles, oaths, families, relationships and bonds, religious strife, and most of all, the world of power gained, lost, and consolidated on the way to making history.

To be downright crude dear reader, Sword of Kings is a page-turning, pot-boiling, compact literary beast that “goes for your nuts” (to employ a euphemism).  It is brutal and savage and as alluring and as enchanting as the powers of the gods these characters worship.

Bernard Cornwell is the lord king of historical fiction and the undisputed master of writing battle scenes.  And the sequence in which Cornwell depicts the final move by the winner of this game for Edward's throne is the bloody cherry on top of this breath-taking literary cake.  Sword of Kings wants to be the king of your holiday reading list.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of historical fiction and of Bernard Cornwell must have Sword of Kings.

A+
10 out of 10

www.bernardcornwell.net

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2019 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.



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#IReadsYou Review: BLACK PANTHER VS. DEADPOOL #1

BLACK PANTHER VS. DEADPOOL #1
MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Daniel Kibblesmith
ART: Ricardo López Ortiz
COLORS: Felipe Sobreiro
LETTERS: Joe Sabino
EDITOR: Wil Moss
COVER: Ryan Benjamin with Rain Beredo
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Adi Granov; Cully Hamner with Laura Martin
28pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (November 2018)

“Parental Advisory”

Black Panther created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby; Deadpool created by Rob Liefeld and Fabian Nicieza; Dora Milaje created by Christopher Priest and Mark Texeira

Part One: “A Small Misunderstanding”

Black Panther is a Marvel Comics superhero created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.  The character first appeared in Fantastic Four #52 (cover dated: July 1966).  Black Panther is T'Challa, the king and protector of the (fictional) African nation of Wakanda.  Black Panther was also the first Black superhero in mainstream American comic books.

Deadpool is a Marvel Comics anti-hero character.  He was created by artist-writer Rob Liefeld and writer Fabian Nicieza and first appeared in The New Mutants #98 (cover dated: February 1991).  Deadpool is Wade Winston Wilson, a disfigured and deeply mentally disturbed assassin-for-hire and mercenary with a superhuman physical prowess and an accelerated healing factor.  The character is depicted as joking constantly, being sarcastic, and having a tendency to engage in the literary device of “breaking the fourth wall” and speaking to readers.

Black Panther and Deadpool are two of Marvel Comics' hottest movie characters, with Black Panther appearing in a record-setting 2018 film that has Oscar buzz.  Deadpool appeared in two films, Deadpool (2016) and Deadpool 2 (2018), each of which grossed well over $700 million dollars in worldwide box office.  Black Panther vs. Deadpool is a new comic book miniseries bringing the two hot Marvel characters together.  It is written by Daniel Kibblesmith; drawn by Ricardo López Ortiz; colored by Felipe Sobreiro; and lettered by Joe Sabino.

Black Panther vs. Deadpool #1 (“A Small Misunderstanding”) opens in Wakanda where the citizens are celebrating “Ubusuku Bokufa,” the nation's “Night of the Dead” festival.  T'Challa/Black Panther and his sister, Shuri, are working on a new surgical method for humans that involves something called “star cells.”  Meanwhile, in the United States, Deadpool's battle with “The Wrecker” causes a beloved Marvel Comics character to end up near death.  The one thing that can save him, “Vibranium Therapy,” may be out of reach for Deadpool.

Deadpool goes to Wakanda with a plan, a crazy plan that involves working things out with Black Panther in a plan-of-action that follows the line of action in a superhero-crossover-comic-book.  But does Black Panther want to play with let alone help Deadpool?

I am not going to act as if Black Panther vs. Deadpool is a great comic book, but I expected it to be a disaster.  Yet it is not; there are a few good moments.  Black Panther vs. Deadpool #1 has a kind of Looney Tunes quality to it.  I can see comedy elements that remind me of Wile E. Coyote vs. Road Runner and Bugs Bunny vs. Elmer Fudd (or vs. Yosemite Sam).  Daniel Kibblesmith does not quite pull off the madcap humor of classic Warner Bros. cartoon shorts, but I think he has potential.

I like Ricardo López Ortiz's art here more than I did his run on the first arc of Mark Millar's recent Hit Girl revival (entitled Hit Girl in Columbia).  Ortiz's scratchy, impressionistic drawing style is not as effective at storytelling as it could be simply because there is too much clutter in the line work and inking.  And here, some of the art is just ugly or badly drawn.

Felipe Sobreiro cannot fix this with his coloring, and Ortiz's art even makes Joe Sabino's lettering look like clutter, and that should not be.  While I found some things to like, I am not sure that I will return for the second issue.  I can't see myself paying $3.99 for this, let alone playing $21+ (with tax) to read the entire miniseries.  Black Panther and Deadpool fans might find Black Panther vs. Deadpool worth the price and the effort, though.

5 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2018 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: LEVIUS/est: Volume 1

LEVIUS/EST, VOL. 1
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

CARTONIST: Haruhisa Nakata
TRANSLATION: John Werry
ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Jason A. Hurley
LETTERS: Joanna Estep
EDITOR: Joel Enos
ISBN: 978-1-9747-0639-6; paperback (November 2019); Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”
212pp, B&W with some color, $12.99 U.S., $17.99 CAN, £8.99 UK

Levius/est is a sequel to the manga, Levius, with both manga being the creation of manga artist, Haruhisa Nakata.  A currently ongoing series, Levius/est is published in the Japanese manga magazine, Ultra Jump.  VIZ Media is publishing an English-language edition of Levius/est as a series of graphic novels, and also published Levius in English as a single-volume hardcover omnibus edition.

Levius/est, Vol. 1 (Chapters 1 to 5) opens in the 19th century.  The world has entered the “Era of Rebirth,” as it recovers  from a devastating war.  Seventeen-year-old Levius Cromwell, who lost his parents to war, is a fighter in the sport of mechanical martial arts (M.M.A.), which has galvanized the nations of the world.  Cybernetically augmented fighters turn their blood into steam and their bodies into brutal and sometimes monstrous fighting and killing machines.

Levius managed to become one of the “Grand Thirteen,” the 13 M.M.A. fighters in the sport's top level, “Grade I.”  However, Levius is currently in a coma, and his gravely injured uncle, Zack Cromell (his father's brother), is determined to save him.  To do so means engaging a dangerous young woman named A.J. Langdon, the fighter who caused Levius' injuries.

The Levius/est manga is a necessary sequel to the Levius manga.  After reading Levius, dear readers, it was clear to me that there was more story to be told.

Levius/est Graphic Novel Volume 1 is appropriate for high school age readers, as was the original, although both are classified with the adult seinen manga label.  Creator Haruhisa Nakata depicts some shockingly brutal fights in the original series, but here, he focuses on back story, flashbacks, and character relationships.  For instance, Nakata offers us the first look at the events that led to Levius' mother's grievous injuries, and he shows us a more detailed and different side of A.J. Langdon.

Nakata's art reminds me of the work of Katsuhiro Otomo (Akira), and I expect this series will sometimes seem like a steampunk spin on Ghost in the Shell.  Nakata's art makes for effective graphical storytelling and is also eye-candy.

John Werry and Jason A. Hurley's work on the English script for Levius/est won't fail us, and Joanna Estep's lovely lettering is perfect for this series.  That is why I am recommending Levius/est.  There is so much potential here, both in terms of action and in terms of character drama.  Levius/est may be a sequel, but I don't think it will be a retread.

8 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2019 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.

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#IReadsYou Review: THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN Vol. 4 #1

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