Marvel Comics from Diamond Distributors for March 11, 2020

MARVEL COMICS

JAN200949    AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #41    $3.99
JAN200950    AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #41 BROWN SPIDER-WOMAN VAR    $3.99
DEC190984    ANNIHILATION SCOURGE TP    $24.99
JAN200933    ANT-MAN #3 (OF 5)    $3.99
DEC198917    AVENGERS #30 2ND PTG MCGUINNESS VAR    $3.99
JAN200914    AVENGERS #32    $3.99
JAN200915    AVENGERS #32 MCKONE SPIDER-WOMAN VAR    $3.99
JAN200925    AVENGERS OF THE WASTELANDS #3 (OF 5)    $3.99
DEC190999    BLACK WIDOW MARVEL TEAM-UP TP    $29.99
JAN200831    CABLE #1 BLACK BLANK VAR DX    $4.99
JAN200826    CABLE #1 DX    $4.99
JAN200830    CABLE #1 YOUNG VAR DX    $4.99
DEC198918    CAPTAIN MARVEL #14 2ND PTG GARBETT VAR    $3.99
DEC190982    DAWN OF X TP VOL 03    $17.99
DEC191002    FANTASTIC FOUR COMPLETE COLLECTION TP VOL 02 HEROES RETURN    $39.99
DEC190992    FANTASTIC FOUR TP VOL 04 THING VS IMMORTAL HULK    $15.99
JAN200990    GHOST RIDER #6    $3.99
JAN200991    GHOST RIDER #6 YOON SPIDER-WOMAN VAR    $3.99
JAN200945    GWEN STACY #2 (OF 5)    $3.99
JAN200948    GWEN STACY #2 (OF 5) NAUCK VAR    $3.99
JAN200936    HAWKEYE FREE FALL #4    $3.99
NOV190960    HISTORY OF MARVEL UNIV TREASURY ED TP MCNIVEN CVR    $29.99
NOV190961    HISTORY OF MARVEL UNIV TREASURY ED TP RODRIGUEZ CVR DM VAR    $29.99
JAN200897    IMMORTAL HULK #32    $3.99
JAN200898    IMMORTAL HULK #32 ZIRCHER SPIDER-WOMAN VAR    $3.99
DEC198919    IMMORTAL HULK GREAT POWER #1 2ND PTG MOLINA VAR    $4.99
JAN200995    JESSICA JONES BLIND SPOT #5 (OF 6)    $3.99
JAN200996    JESSICA JONES BLIND SPOT #5 (OF 6) SIMMONDS VAR    $3.99
DEC190994    LEGENDS OF MARVEL TP AVENGERS    $17.99
DEC191009    MARVEL MONOGRAPH TP ART OF CHRIS BACHALO    $19.99
JAN200895    MARVEL TALES SILVER SURFER #1    $7.99
JAN200982    MARVELS SPIDER-MAN BLACK CAT STRIKES #3 (OF 5)    $3.99
JAN200940    NEBULA #2 (OF 5)    $3.99
JAN200849    NEW MUTANTS #9 DX    $3.99
JAN201006    PUNISHER SOVIET #5 (OF 6) (MR)    $3.99
DEC191010    ROCKET RACCOON AND GROOT GN TP TALL TAILS    $12.99
JAN200953    SPIDER-HAM #4 (OF 5)    $3.99
JAN201017    STAR WARS BOUNTY HUNTERS #1    $3.99
JAN201020    STAR WARS BOUNTY HUNTERS #1 ANDREWS VAR    $3.99
JAN201022    STAR WARS BOUNTY HUNTERS #1 BLANK VAR    $3.99
DEC198920    STAR WARS DARTH VADER #1 2ND PTG IENCO VAR    $4.99
JAN201029    STAR WARS DARTH VADER #2    $3.99
JAN201031    STAR WARS DARTH VADER #2 SPROUSE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK VAR    $3.99
JAN201032    STAR WARS RISE KYLO REN #4 (OF 4)    $3.99
JAN200869    SUB-MARINER MARVELS SNAPSHOT #1    $4.99
JAN200871    SUB-MARINER MARVELS SNAPSHOT #1 DELLOTTO VAR    $4.99
JAN200972    SYMBIOTE SPIDER-MAN ALIEN REALITY #4 (OF 5)    $3.99
JAN200974    SYMBIOTE SPIDER-MAN ALIEN REALITY #4 (OF 5) RON LIM VAR    $3.99
JAN200975    SYMBIOTE SPIDER-MAN ALIEN REALITY #4 (OF 5) TAN VAR    $3.99
JAN200837    THOR #229 FACSIMILE EDITION    $3.99
JAN200930    THOR #4    $3.99
JAN200932    THOR #4 GARRON SPIDER-WOMAN VAR    $3.99
JAN200859    TRUE BELIEVERS EMPYRE ANELLE #1    $1.00
JAN200860    TRUE BELIEVERS EMPYRE HULKLING #1    $1.00
JAN200861    TRUE BELIEVERS EMPYRE QUOI #1    $1.00
JAN200970    VENOM #24    $3.99
JAN200971    VENOM #24 ROCK-HE KIM SPIDER-WOMAN VAR    $3.99
DEC191005    WOLVERINE EPIC COLLECTION TP INNER FURY    $39.99
JAN200843    X-MEN #8 DX    $3.99
DEC198921    X-MEN FANTASTIC FOUR #1 (OF 4) 2ND PTG DODSON VAR    $4.99

#IReadsYou Review: X-MEN #1 (2019)

X-MEN No. 1 (2019)
MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Jonathan Hickman
PENCILS: Leinil Francis Yu
INKS: Gerry Alanguilan
COLORS: Sunny Gho
LETTERS: VC's Clayton Cowles
EDITOR: Jordan D. White
EiC: Akria Yoshida a.k.a. “C.B. Cebulski”
COVER: Leinil Francis Yu with Sunny Gho
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Mark Bagley and John Dell with Israel Silva; Mark Brooks; Tom Muller; Whilce Portacio with Chris Sotomayor; Leinil Francis Yu; Chris Bachalo with Edgar Delgado; Artgerm; Marco Checchetto; Russell Dauterman
44pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (December 2019)

Rated T+

The X-Men created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby

“Pax Krakoa”

The X-Men are a Marvel Comics superhero team and franchise created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Jack Kirby.  In The X-Men #1 (cover dated: September 1963), readers were introduced to a professor and team-leader and his students who had unique powers and abilities because they were “mutants.”  The leader was Professor Charles Xavier a/k/a “Professor X.”  His students were Scott Summers (Cyclops), Jean Grey (Marvel Girl), Warren Worthington III (Angel), Henry “Hank” McCoy (Beast), and Bobby Drake (Iceman).

This past summer (2019), writer Jonathan Hickman revamped, rebooted, and re-imagined the X-Men comic book franchise via a pair of six-issue comic book miniseries, House of X and Powers of X (pronounced “Powers of Ten”).  October welcomed “Dawn of X,” the launch of six new X-Men titles, although all except one bore titles that have been previously used.  The new series were Excalibur, Fallen Angels, Marauders, New Mutants, X-Force, and the subject of this review, X-Men.

X-Men 2019 is written by Jonathan Hickman; drawn by Leinil Franics Yu (pencils) and the recently-deceased Gerry Alanguilan (inks); colored by Sunny Gho, and lettered by Clayton Cowles.  The series will apparently focus on Cyclops and his hand-picked team of mutant powerhouses who will stand between the mutants' sacred land (the island of Krakoa) and the threat of the human world.

X-Men #1 (Pax Krakoa) finds the X-Men engaged in a mop-up operation, destroying the last stronghold of Orchis, the organization that was attempting to build a more powerful generation of the mutant-hunting robots, the Sentinels.  Cyclops, Storm, Magneto, and Polaris find little real resistance from the minions of Orchis.  However, they do find a “posthuman” and a large group of mutant children in need of rescuing... and in need of a home.

So it's back to Krakoa, the living island and mutant nation-state.  Many are still adjusting to this new home and the new state of mutant affairs.  Meanwhile, their enemies are not going quietly into the night, nor is their evil science.

For the first two decades of its existence, the X-Men comic book series (later titled Uncanny X-Men) had an intimate feel to it.  The series basically focused on a small band of heroes and adventures who (1) had few allies and (2) fought “evil mutants” in order to protect the larger world of humanity.  Even when the team line-ups changed or when a second group of “New Mutants” entered the picture, the X-Men comics felt like an intimate affair with its tales of the mutant-us against the world.

From the mid-1980s on, Marvel Comics published an increasing number of X-Men and X-Men related ongoing series, finite series, graphic novels, and assorted one-off publications.  Then, the hit film, X-Men (2000), presented the X-Men's home and base, “Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters” (Xavier Institute for Higher Learning), as an actual school, packed with minor children who were mutants.  Marvel Comics followed suit, and suddenly Professor Charles Xavier a.k.a. Professor X's mansion went from half a dozen or so inhabitants to housing untold dozens of students, in addition to members of the X-Men who were suddenly being depicted as teachers and counselors.

So during the past two decades of X-Men comic books, the X-Men titles have stopped being superhero comic books and have become mutant soap opera, dystopian, science fiction, serial dramas.  That would not be a problem except there are too many characters, too many plots, and too many comic books.  No matter how many Spider-Man, Superman, or Batman comic books there are, those titles still focus only on Spider-Man, Superman, or Batman.  There is still an intimacy between the reader and a single character.  Too many Avengers or Justice League comic books become redundant, like an over-supply of superhero characters.  That's the problem with the X-Men... still... even after the latest spiffy, new reboot.

Jonathan Hickman's House of X and Powers of X were finite series with a purpose, a goal, and (more or less) an endgame.  Each series had a beginning, a middle, and an end – even during the moments when that was presented in a non-linear fashion.  Both of these comic books were wonderful, satisfying, complete reads.

But we seem to be back to the status quo that was not supposed to be, at least, post-Hickman revolution.  X-Men 2019 is the start of a wave of new X-Men titles, “Dawn of X,” soon to be followed by more waves.  Well, maybe Hickman will continue to surprise us and later issues of X-Men 2019 won't feel like padded story the way this X-Men #1 does.  One can hope, even a former X-Men fan like myself.  But I have a feeling that sales on the “Dawn of X” titles will have plummeted so much by the end of 2020 that Marvel Comics will already be planning the next relaunch.

5.5 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 or site for reprint and  syndication rights and fees.


--------------------------

DC Comics from Diamond Distributors for January 1, 2020

DC COMICS
MAY190468    ABSOLUTE DEATH HC NEW ED (MR)    $99.99
OCT190495    ACTION COMICS #1018    $3.99
OCT190496    ACTION COMICS #1018 CARD STOCK VAR ED    $4.99
OCT190499    BATGIRL #42    $3.99
OCT190500    BATGIRL #42 VAR ED    $3.99
OCT190505    BATMAN BEYOND #39    $3.99
OCT190506    BATMAN BEYOND #39 VAR ED    $3.99
OCT190638    BATMAN GOTHAM KNIGHTS TRANSFERENCE TP    $29.99
OCT190652    BIRDS OF PREY HUNTRESS TP    $19.99
OCT190597    BOOKS OF MAGIC #15 (MR)    $3.99
NOV190003    DC PREVIEWS #21 JANUARY 2020 EXTRAS    $PI
OCT190521    DETECTIVE COMICS #1018    $3.99
OCT190522    DETECTIVE COMICS #1018 VAR ED    $3.99
OCT190607    DIAL H FOR HERO #10 (OF 12)    $3.99
SEP190470    DIANA PRINCESS OF THE AMAZONS TP    $9.99
OCT190618    DOLLAR COMICS BATMAN #613    $1.00
OCT190599    DREAMING #17 (MR)    $3.99
OCT190527    FLASH #85    $3.99
OCT190528    FLASH #85 CARD STOCK VAR ED    $4.99
OCT190537    HARLEY QUINN #69    $3.99
OCT190538    HARLEY QUINN #69 VAR ED    $3.99
OCT190675    INJUSTICE VS THE MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE TP    $16.99
SEP190500    JOKER HARLEY CRIMINAL SANITY #2 (OF 9) (MR)    $5.99
SEP190501    JOKER HARLEY CRIMINAL SANITY #2 (OF 9) VAR ED (MR)    $5.99
OCT190555    JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #18    $3.99
OCT190556    JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #18 VAR ED    $3.99
OCT190563    LOIS LANE #7 (OF 12)    $3.99
OCT190564    LOIS LANE #7 (OF 12) VAR ED    $3.99
OCT190565    MARTIAN MANHUNTER #11 (OF 12)    $3.99
OCT190566    MARTIAN MANHUNTER #11 (OF 12) VAR ED    $3.99
OCT190571    RED HOOD OUTLAW #41    $3.99
OCT190572    RED HOOD OUTLAW #41 VAR ED    $3.99
OCT190489    SUPERMAN GIANT #1    $4.99
OCT190587    TERRIFICS #23    $3.99
OCT190588    TERRIFICS #23 VAR ED    $3.99
SEP190472    WONDER WOMAN WARBRINGER TP    $16.99

Review: DOCTOR STRANGE #1

DOCTOR STRANGE No. 1 (2018)
MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Mark Waid
ART: Jesús Saiz
COLORS: Jesús Saiz
LETTERS: VC's Cory Petit
EDITOR: Nick Lowe
COVER: Jesús Saiz
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Chris Bacholo and Tim Townsend; Gabriele Dell'Otto
36pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (August 2018)

Rated T+

Doctor Strange created by Steve Ditko

“Sorcery Supreme of the Galaxy” Part One

Doctor Strange is a Marvel Comics magical superhero character.  Doctor Strange first appeared in Strange Tales #110 (cover dated:  July 1963) and was created by writer-artist Steve Ditko, although Marvel Comics also recognizes writer Stan Lee as the character's co-creator.

Doctor Stephen Vincent Strange is a brilliant, but egotistical neurosurgeon who only cares about using his career and talents to become wealthy.  A car accident severely damages his hands, ending his ability to perform surgery.  His pride causes him to lose everything, but his encounter with the Ancient One changes him.  Doctor Strange becomes the “Sorcerer Supreme,” the “Master of the Mystic Arts,” who is the primary protector of Earth against magical and mystical threats from wherever they may come.

Marvel Comics recently launched a new Doctor Strange comic book with a shockingly new direction.  This new title is written by Mark Waid; drawn and colored by Jesús Saiz; and lettered by Cory Petit.

Doctor Strange #1 opens with the good Doctor... Strange wrapping up some mystical ass-kicking.  Now, he is ready to return to his “Sanctum Santorum” in Greenwich Village, New York City and resume his role as the most powerful and lead defender against all occult and arcane threats to our realm.  Seven years later, Stephen Strange begins to lose his ability to see the reality behind the obvious, which humans cannot see.  Soon, Doctor Strange is a mystic physician no longer in touch with the magical and the mystical.

He reaches out for help, but no one can help him.  Then, Tony Stark suggests that Strange leave the Earth and travel the stars to get his mystical groove back.

First, I have to say that Jesús Saiz's art and coloring are absolutely beautiful.  I don't know if Saiz digitally paints his art, but so far, this iteration of Doctor Strange is one of the best looking comic books with painted art that I have ever read.  The prettiness of the art does not distract from the storytelling, which is surprisingly fraught with emotion.

Yeah, when writer Mark Waid is good, he is fantastic, although when he is bad, it is painfully mediocre.  Ain't no mediocrity here, as Waid starts one of the most improbably Doctor Strange story lines ever.  That is something to say considering that we have had over five decades of glorious Doctor Strange weirdness to enjoy.

Yes, via Cory Petit's stylish and evocative lettering, we have a good strange Strange to read.  I recommend that we stay with it, or, if you have not started, get on board this intergalactic bus.

8 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 or syndication rights and fees.

------------------------

Review: UNCANNY X-MEN #600

UNCANNY X-MEN No. 600
MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

WRITER: Brian Micheal Bendis
PENCILS:  Sara Pichelli, Mahmud Asrar, Stuart Immonen, Kris Anka, Chris Bachalo, David Marquez, Frazer Irving
INKS: Wade von Grawbadger, Tim Townsend, Mark Irwin
COLORS: Marte Gracia, Jason Keith, Chis Bachalo, Frazer Irving
LETTERS: VC's Joe Caramagna
COVER: Chris Bachalo
VARIANT COVERS: Art Adams with Jason Keith; Kris Anka; John Tyler Christopher; Olivier Coipel with Marte Gracia; Adam Hughes; Rick Leonardi and Dan Green with Jason Keith; Ed McGuinness and Dexter Vines with Val Staples; Paul Smith with Paul Mounts; Leinel Yu with Jason Keith
60pp, Color, $5.99 U.S. (January 2016)

Rated T+

X-Men created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby

With the arrival of the “All-New, All-Different Marvel Universe,” X-Men comic books are entering a new era.  Apparently if all the incarnations of Uncanny X-Men are added together, the result is that 600 issues of comic books entitled Uncanny X-Men have been published.  It is that 600th issue that marks the end of something, if not an era, then, the end of Brian Michael Bendis' tenure as an X-Men writer.

Uncanny X-Men #600 opens at the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning.  Storm has called all the X-Men currently residing at the school to a meeting.  It's an intervention for Dr. Henry McCoy, or you can call it “The Trial of Beast, and Hank sure ain't feeling the love.  Also, young Iceman has a serious talk with adult Iceman.  Plus, a summons from Washington...

I found the Iceman/Iceman conversation to be heartfelt, and the Jean Grey-Beast meeting felt like something big.  The rest of “The Trial of Beast” does not amount to very much.  After months of delay, all readers get is this tepid tale – simple as that.  Considering the high-quality work that Bendis did on Uncanny X-Men and All-New X-Men, Uncanny X-Men #600 is quite disappointing.

B-

“Winter Carnival” (bonus story)

Writer: Mary Jo Duffy
Pencils: George Perez
Inks: Alfredo Alcala
Letters: Janice Chiang

As a bonus, Uncanny X-Men No. 600 closes with a reprint of the black and white story, “Winter Carnival.”  This 18-page story originally appeared in Bizarre Adventures #27.  This was the X-Men-themed issue of Marvel Comics' black and white comics magazine series that was published from the mid-1970s (under a different title) to the early 1980s.

The story finds Robert L. “Bobby” Drake a.k.a. Iceman as a visiting college student at Dartmouth College (an Ivy League school in Hanover, New Hampshire).  The campus is covered in snow, which is appropriate as this is the time of year for the celebration known as “Winter Carnival.”  Bobby discovers that Iceman is needed when crime decides not to take the weekend off and join in the wintry fun.

I wish Mary Jo Duffy (also known as simply Jo Duffy) were still writing her character-centrist stories for either Marvel or DC Comics.  I don't think that she has written for either publisher in over a decade.  In this story, she allows Iceman to shine as a superhero, but she opens the interior Bobby Drake, depicting him as thoughtful and possessing of a personality and of a sparkling wit.

Many readers may not recognize the art in “Winter Carnival” as that of George Perez (I didn't.), as it has very little resemblance to the graphic style that would define Perez's career on works like New Teen Titans, Crisis on Infinite Earths, and Wonder Woman, to name a few.  However, readers will get a chance to see the talents of inker Alfredo Alcala, whose ink wash over Perez's pencils does not look as good on glossy paper as it would on some good old-fashioned newsprint comic books.

A-

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and  syndication rights and fees.

Review: DOCTOR STRANGE #1

DOCTOR STRANGE (2015) No. 1
MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

WRITER: Jason Aaron
PENCILS: Chris Bachalo
INKS: Tim Townsend, Al Vey, and Mark Irwin
COLORS: Chris Bachalo
LETTERS: VC's Cory Petit
COVER: Chris Bachalo and Tim Townsend
VARIANT COVERS: Neal Adams; John Tyler Christopher; Juan Doe; Eric Henderson; Dave Johnson; Kevin Nowlan; Jakub Rebelka; Skottie Young; Allen Lee Hansard with Mary Cahela and Judy Stephens
36pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (December 2015)

Rated T+

Doctor Strange created by Steve Ditko

“The Way of the Weird”

Doctor Strange is a Marvel Comics superhero character.  Doctor Strange first appeared in Strange Tales #110 (cover dated:  July 1963) and was created by artist Steve Ditko, although Marvel Comics also recognizes Stan Lee as the character's co-creator.

Doctor Stephen Vincent Strange is a brilliant, but egotistical neurosurgeon who only cares about using his career and talents to become wealthy.  A car accident severely damages his hands, ending his ability to perform surgery.  His pride causes him to lose everything, but his encounter with the Ancient One changes him.  Doctor Strange becomes the “Sorcerer Supreme,” the “Master of the Mystic Arts,” who is the primary protector of Earth against magical and mystical threats from wherever they may come.

As part of the “All-New All-Different Marvel” initiative, Marvel Comics is launching a new Doctor Strange comic book series.  The new series is written by Jason Aaron; drawn and colored by Chris Bachalo, with inking by Tim Townsend, Al Vey and Mark Irwin; and lettered by Cory Petit.

Doctor Strange #1 (“The Way of the Weird”) with Strange battling possession in the Netherworld.  After a day of battling soul-eaters and a psychic-leech, Strange sees a pattern.  Something bad is coming.  Plus, Strange meets Doctor Voodoo, Shaman, and the Scarlet Witch.

I am intrigued by some of the elements presented in this new series, but I don't know that this is a title that I would buy every month.  If you have ever seen Chris Bachalo's art, and you have because he has been a Marvel Comics stable pony for over a decade, then, this comic book will look familiar to you.  Maybe some of it looks like Bachalo's work on Neil Gaiman's Death comic book miniseries.  Anyway, I can't recommend this, not because it is bad, but because I don't see myself being a regular reader of this new Doctor Strange.  So why should I suggest that you be?

Now, there is also a five-age epilogue written by Aaron and drawn by the great Kevin Nowlan (who also draws one of this #1 issue's variant covers).  For a long time, Nolan has been known as a comic book artist's artist, and Nowlan's five pages are worth every penny of this book's cover price.  I will come back to this title if there is more Nowlan.

[This volume includes a bonus story written by Jason Aaron; drawn and colored by Kevin Nowlan; and lettered by VC's Cory Petit.]

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint or syndication rights and fees.

Marvel Comics from Diamond Distributors for January 20, 2016

MARVEL COMICS

OCT158856     ALL NEW X-MEN #1 BAGLEY 2ND PTG VAR     $3.99
OCT150983     ALL NEW X-MEN TP VOL 07 UTOPIANS     $19.99
OCT150981     ASM INHUMAN ALL NEW CAPTAIN AMERICA INHUMAN ERROR TP     $12.99
NOV150803     ASTONISHING ANT-MAN #4     $3.99
NOV150738     CAPTAIN MARVEL #1     $3.99
OCT158857     DAREDEVIL #1 GARNEY 2ND PTG VAR     $3.99
NOV150904     DARK TOWER DRAWING OF THREE LADY OF SHADOWS #5 (MR)     $3.99
NOV150897     DEADPOOL #6     $3.99
OCT158858     DOCTOR STRANGE #3 BACHALO 2ND PTG VAR     $3.99
NOV150812     DRAX #3     $3.99
NOV150853     HERCULES #3     $3.99
OCT158860     HOWARD THE DUCK #2 FOWLER GWENPOOL B&W 2ND PTG VAR     $4.99
OCT158859     HOWARD THE DUCK #2 QUINONES 2ND PTG VAR     $4.99
OCT158861     INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #4 MARQUEZ 2ND PTG VAR     $3.99
OCT150994     MARVEL FRONTIER COMICS TP COMPLETE COLLECTION (MR)     $39.99
NOV150901     MARVEL UNIVERSE AVENGERS ASSEMBLE SEASON TWO #15     $2.99
NOV150905     MAX RIDE #3 ULTIMATE FLIGHT     $3.99
NOV150824     MS MARVEL #3     $3.99
NOV150787     NEW AVENGERS #5     $3.99
NOV150848     PATSY WALKER AKA HELLCAT #2     $3.99
OCT150993     PUNISHER MAX TP VOL 01 COMPLETE COLLECTION (MR)     $34.99
NOV150763     SILVER SURFER #1     $3.99
NOV150920     STAR WARS #15     $3.99
OCT150988     STAR WARS TP LANDO     $16.99
NOV150857     STARBRAND AND NIGHTMASK #2     $3.99
NOV150816     STAR-LORD #3     $3.99
OCT150985     THOR TP VOL 01 GODDESS OF THUNDER     $19.99
OCT150995     THUNDERBOLTS CLASSIC TP VOL 01 NEW PTG     $34.99
NOV150863     TRUE BELIEVERS GROOVY DEADPOOL #1     $1.00
NOV150864     TRUE BELIEVERS MEATY DEADPOOL #1     $1.00
NOV150865     TRUE BELIEVERS WEDDING OF DEADPOOL #1     $1.00
NOV150818     UNCANNY INHUMANS #4     $3.99
OCT150772     UNCANNY X-MEN #2     $3.99
OCT150984     X-MEN TP VOL 01 INFERNO     $34.99

Marvel Comics from Diamond Distributors for September 9, 2015

MARVEL COMICS

JUN150754     1602 WITCH HUNTER ANGELA #3 SWA     $3.99
JUN150750     A-FORCE #4 SWA     $3.99
JUL150853     AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #1 BY ROSS POSTER     $8.99
JUL150737     AMAZING SPIDER-MAN RENEW YOUR VOWS #5 SWA     $3.99
JUN150826     AVENGERS TIME RUNS OUT TP VOL 01     $19.99
JUL150851     CAPTAIN AMERICA WHITE #2 BY SALE POSTER     $8.99
JUL150733     CIVIL WAR #4 SWA     $3.99
JUL150857     CIVIL WAR INHUMANS 50TH ANNIV BY BRADSHAW POSTER     $8.99
JUN150834     DARK TOWER DRAWING OF THREE HOUSE OF CARDS TP (MR)     $19.99
JUN150796     DARTH VADER #9     $3.99
JUL150854     DOCTOR STRANGE #1 BY BACHALO POSTER     $8.99
JUL150856     EXTRAORDINARY X-MEN #1 BY RAMOS POSTER     $8.99
JUL150852     FIGMENT 2 #1 BY CHRISTOPHER POSTER     $8.99
JUL150746     GIANT SIZE LITTLE MARVEL AVX #4 SWA     $3.99
JUL150850     INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #1 BY MARQUEZ POSTER     $8.99
JUL150767     JOURNEY STAR WARS FASE #1     $3.99
JUL150744     KORVAC SAGA #4 SWA     $3.99
JUN150838     LUKE CAGE TP VOL 01 SECOND CHANCES     $34.99
JUL150848     MARVEL SUPER HERO SPECTACULAR BY NAUCK COLORING POSTER     $8.99
JUL150849     MARVEL SUPER HERO SPECTACULAR BY NAUCK POSTER     $8.99
JUL150800     MARVEL UNIVERSE AVENGERS ASSEMBLE SEASON TWO #11     $2.99
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I Reads You Review: UNCANNY X-MEN #1

UNCANNY X-MEN #1 (April 2013)
MARVEL COMICS

WRITER: Brian Michael Bendis
PENCILS/COLORS: Chris Bachalo
INKS: Tim Townsend, Jaime Mendoza, Al Vey
LETTERS: VC’s Joe Caramagna
VARIANT COVERS: Skottie Young; Joe Quesada and Danny Miki with Richard Isanove; Francesco Francavilla; Gabriel Del’Otto; Stuart Immonen with Marte Gracia
28pp, Colors, $3.99 U.S.

Rated T+

Part of Marvel Comics’ Marvel NOW initiative (the re-launch of their comics line) is another re-launch of Uncanny X-Men. The new series is written by Brian Michael Bendis, who is also writing Uncanny’s sister title, All-New X-Men. For the time being, the art is being produced by Chris Bachalo (pencils) and Tim Townsend (inks). Longtime comic book readers know why I’m saying “for the time being.”

The roster of X-Men that makes up this new Uncanny X-Men is Cyclops, Magneto, Emma Frost the White Queen, Majik, and two new mutants. The newbies are an Australian girl, Tempus, and a boy who is a healer and who has not chosen his mutant name, yet. Cyclops/Scott Summers, one of the original X-Men, has become a highly controversial figure and is also the public face of a new mutant revolution.

Uncanny X-Men #1 opens in an underground S.H.I.E.L.D. interrogation bunker. Director Hill is about to interview a mysterious figure who has shown up out of nowhere. He has a tale to tell about Cyclops and his band of X-Men. It begins with the rescue of Fabio Medina, a young mutant whose powers have just awakened. What is this stranger really offering S.H.I.E.L.D. and what does he really want?

Brian Michael Bendis is proving himself to be the best X-Men writer in a decade or, at least since Grant Morrison on New X-Men. Bendis is doing his excellent work without making the changes Morrison did when he became an X-writer. In this first issue, the set-up of the mysterious stranger peddling information creates a thrilling sense of mystery, drama, and anticipation. It’s enough to have me coming back.

OK. Chris Bachalo. Yeah, used to like him a lot. He has done some really good work. Bachalo is from the school of eye-candy comic book art. He has sometimes been more about style than storytelling, and his compositions can be crowded, though not always. Gawd, remember Steampunk? Luckily, the crowding is down significantly. In Uncanny X-Men #1, the storytelling is off-kilter, at times, and the page design is sometimes a jumbled cluster-fk that makes certain pages annoying to read.

Thank God for Bendis.

A-

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux

I Reads You Review: ALL-NEW X-MEN #6

ALL-NEW X-MEN #6
MARVEL COMICS

WRITER: Brian Michael Bendis
ARTIST: David Marquez
COLORS: Marte Gracia
LETTERS: VC’s Cory Petit
COVER: Stuart Immonen and Wade von Grawbadger with Marte Gracia
VARIANT COVER: Chris Bachalo and Tim Townsend
28pp, Colors, $3.99 U.S.

Rated T+

All-New X-Men, a Marvel NOW title, is set at the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning. Here, Storm, Wolverine, Beast, Iceman, and Kitty Pryde try to keep Professor Charles Xavier’s dream alive. Meanwhile, Cyclops/Scott Summers, one of the original X-Men, has become a highly controversial figure and is the public face of a new mutant revolution. He and his teammates: Magneto, the White Queen, and Majick, are gathering new mutants as fast as they appear.

In a desperate bid to stop Cyclops’ activities from triggering a mutant apocalypse, a dying Beast/Hank McCoy goes back in time. He brings the original X-Men: Cyclops, Jean Grey, Iceman, Beast, and Angel, back with him. He wants young Cyclops see what he has become, so that he might change his ways and change his future.

All-New X-Men #6 opens after the original X-Men decide to stay in the present (their future) in order to save all our futures. Adjustment is difficult, however. Jean’s telepathic powers awakened for the first time. Angel is the only original X-Man who has not met his future-self. Cyclops has the most difficult time accepting what has happened, and that leads to a showdown with Wolverine.

With Brian Michael Bendis still writing, All-New X-Men is still good. His thoughtful, character-centric writing focuses on Marvel’s mutants both as people and as heroes. This makes All-New X-Men something like an evening teen soap opera / primetime drama.

David Marquez is now the artist on All-New X-Men. He replaces the team of Stuart Immonen and Wade von Grawbadger, who were the artists on the series’ first story arc. The results are mixed. Marquez storytelling is low-energy and his drawing style is bland. One of the problems with artists drawing from complete scripts is that they can become art robots, and Marquez’s art does lack a human touch. The robotic coloring doesn’t help.

Thank God for Bendis.

A-

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux

I Reads You Review: GAMBIT #1

"The Remy LeBeau Affair"

GAMBIT #1
MARVEL COMICS

WRITER: James Asmus
PENCILS: Clay Mann
INKS: Seth Mann
COLORS: Rachelle Rosenberg
LETTERS: VC’s Cory Petit
COVER: Clay Mann and Seth Mann with Rachelle Rosenberg; variant cover by Chris Bachalo
28pp, Color, $2.99 U.S.

Marvel Comics superhero character, Gambit, is known as a member of the X-Men (one team or another). Before he was an X-Man, he was Remy LeBeau, a thief. He has the mutant ability to mentally create, control and manipulate pure kinetic energy. The best example of those powers-in-use is when Gambit “biokinetically” charges objects (such as playing cards) and turns them into small explosives.

Marvel has previously published two ongoing Gambit solo comic book series. The third is a new series written by James Asmus and drawn by the team of Clay Mann (pencils) and Seth Mann (inks). Asmus is an actor, playwright and sketch comic (and, yes, that’s what it has come to).

Gambit #1 (“Once a Thief…” Part One) finds our (anti) hero back to his old life on the wrong side of the law. Businessman Borya Cich is holding a fundraiser for the students of Empire State University at his palatial, private estate in Sagaponack, New York. Cich also has a reputation as a mogul who bankrolls “costumed bad-guys.”

With an invitation in hand, Gambit plans to not only attend the fundraiser as a guest, but to also crash Cich’s secret stash of super-gadgets and magical items. Security is tight, but Remy LeBeau, super-thief, can handle it. When the unexpected happens and things go wrong, LeBeau has to avoid being handled.

Having writers who come from outside of the comic book industry write comic books means having writers that inject fresh ideas into the medium. The fresh idea in Gambit #1 is having Remy LeBeau act as a kind of scruffy, superhero version of Thomas Crown (of the film, The Thomas Crown Affair) or maybe even of Danny Ocean (Ocean’s Eleven). I did write just a few paragraphs ago that it has come to that. What I mean is that this is just another comic book trying not to be a comic book, when the creators can make it act like a movie – of the kind you’ve probably already seen a hundred times.

I must also admit that while I didn’t expect much of this issue, I did find it mildly entertaining in spots. However, Asmus writes way too much interior dialogue, and the other characters are mostly empty paper.

When I first flipped through the book, I was appalled by the art. After reading it, I can say that the compositions and storytelling are good, but that murky, fake, watercolor-style color has got to go. I wouldn’t mind reading future issues of this series, but I won’t pay $2.99 again to do it.

C+