#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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Review: DEADPOOL #1 (2018)

DEADPOOL No. 1 / No. 301 (2018)
MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Skottie Young
ART: Nic Klein; Scott Hepburn
COLORS: Nic Klein; Ian Herring
LETTERS: Jeff Eckleberry
EDITOR: Jake Thomas
COVER: Nic Klein
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Skottie Young with Jean-Francois Beaulieu; Skottie Young; Mike Deodato, Jr. with Rain Beredo; Rob Liefeld with Federico Blee; Rob Liefeld with Jesus Aburtov; Jerome Opena with Jason Keith
36pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (August 2018)

“Parental Advisory”

Deadpool created by Rob Liefeld and Fabian Nicieza

“Back in Business”

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.

Marvel Comics recently launched a new Deadpool comic book series, because launching and relaunching comic book series and number-one issues is something for which Marvel has a proclivity.  Deadpool 2018 is written by Skottie Young.  This issue has two stories.  The first is drawn and colored by Nic Klein, and the second is drawn by Scott Hepburn and colored by Ian Herring.  Jeff Eckleberry provides lettering for both stories.

Deadpool #1 (“Back in Business”) finds our (anti) hero enjoying a sappy Oscar-bait drama, “Best Friends Buds” at the local movie theater.  What Deadpool really wants is a high-paying assassination gig, but his “assistant,” Negasonic Teenage Warhead, informs him that his current target is also enjoying “Best Friends Bud.”  Luckily more craziness is, indeed, headed Mr. Wilson's way, in the form of the kind of adversary the Avengers usually handle.

In “Good Night,” Deadpool, post-mind-wipe, wants a new new origin story.  He tries on several, most of them riffs on familiar superhero origin tales.

I have not read a Deadpool comic book in over two decades, maybe since that miniseries Joe Madureira drew.  I decided to read the first issue of this new Skottie Young-written series because I liked the first issue of the Rocket Raccoon comic book Young wrote and drew a few years ago.  I made a good choice, as I really enjoyed this new Deadpool #1.

Young has written a comic book that reads like a partial transcript of the hit 2016 Deadpool film, and Young does joke about the stylistic similarities between that film and this comic book.  That's okay.  On that rare occasion, a comic book should skew close to its film adaptation.  Nic Klein's art blends seamlessly with Young's script to create an entertaining and humorous comic book, and even Klein's coloring has a comic vibe.  That makes it complete Deadpool the 2018 comic book is spiritually similar to Deadpool the 2016 movie.

Artist Scott Helpern and artist Ian Herring offer a nice turn in riffs on famous comic book origin stories in the second story, “Good Night.”  Of course, letterer Jeff Eckleberry swoops in to assure that the comedy works.  I think that some people underestimate how important lettering is to not only creating the tone of a comic book story, but also how important letterers are to making sure that dialogue and exposition have the intended dramatic or humorous impact.

I think a few issues of this new Deadpool series have been published since the debut of this first issue.  So I need to hunt some back issues because I think I might want to follow this.  It is not a “great” work; sometimes, Young seems to try a little too hard to be funny, but this Deadpool #1 is quite enjoyable.

7 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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Review: GENERATIONS: Ms. Marvel & Ms. Marvel #1

GENERATIONS: MS. MARVEL & MS. MARVEL No. 1
MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: G. Willow Wilson
ART: Paolo Villanelli
COLORS: Ian Herring
LETTERS: VC's Joe Caramagna
COVER: Nelson Blake II with Rachelle Rosenberg
VARIANT COVERS: Kris Anka; Olivier Coipel with Laura Martin
36pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (November 2017)

Rated T+

Ms. Marvel/Carol Danvers created by Roy Thomas and Gene Colan; Kamala Khan created by Sana Amanat, G. Willow Wilson, and Adrian Alphona

“The Marvels”

Generations is an event limited comic book series from Marvel Comics.  It is a planned 10-issue anthology, published weekly.  Each issue is written and drawn by a different creative team, and each issue will feature a different team-up of a classic Marvel superhero with his or her modern-day counterpart.  The series is meant to unite the legacy of classic Marvel Comics characters with the next generation of heroes as both move into the future of Marvel Comics storytelling.

The eighth issue is Generations: Ms. Marvel & Ms. Marvel, which brings together two versions of a classic Marvel Comics character, Ms. Marvel.  The first is the original Ms. Marvel, Carol Danvers.  Danvers first appeared in Marvel Super-Heroes #13 (cover date: March 1968) and became Ms. Marvel in Ms. Marvel #1 (cover dated: January 1977).  The second is the new Ms. Marvel, Kamala Khan, a 16 year-old Pakistani-American from Jersey City, New Jersey.  Kamala first appeared in Captain Marvel #14 (cover dated: August 2013), and she became the new Ms. Marvel in Captain Marvel #17 (cover dated: November 2013).  This issue of Generations is written by G. Willow Wilson; drawn by Paolo Villanelli; colored by Ian Herring; and lettered by Joe Caramagna.

Generations: Ms. Marvel & Ms. Marvel #1 (“The Marvels”) is set in a New York City of the recent past (likely sometime in the last quarter of the twentieth century.  The story opens in the office of “Woman Magazine,” part of J. Jonah Jameson's “Daily Bugle” publishing empire.  Editor-in-Chief Carol Danvers and her editorial and management staff are trying to deal with a crisis, and also with a new intern, Karina, who is really Kamala Kahn, brought here by a mysterious space-time force.

Kamala idolizes Carol Danvers, the original Ms. Marvel, but in this corner of time and space, Danvers does not know Kamala.  Also, “Woman Magazine” is in a state of crisis because of its circulation, but especially because Danvers and her staff are having trouble figuring out who is their audience and what do they want from the magazine.  However, the magazine may soon be under new management – alien management!  Nightscream of the alien Shi'ar Empire is masquerading as a human named Barbara Nelson.  Can Kamala save the magazine and also help the original Ms. Marvel stop and alien menace, even if the original does not want help from the new version?

Of the eight issues of Generations that I have read as of this writing, Generations: Ms. Marvel & Ms. Marvel #1 is my second favorite after my favorite, Generations:  Iron Man & Ironheart #1.  It is certainly better than last week's previous Carol Danvers Generations appearance Generations: Captain Marvel & Captain Mar-Vell #1.

Part of Generations: Ms. Marvel & Ms. Marvel #1's success is due to its story written by G. Willow Wilson.  Wilson is a truly unique storytelling voice in American superhero comic books.  She embraces the good, the bad, and the ugly in humanity.  She creates characters that capture the beauty and... un-pretty we can find in people.  In Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel, she created a character who is a superhero that believes that she should first do no harm.  And yes, this is a one-off, throwaway story, but Wilson delivers a tale that epitomizes the resourcefulness and determination of Kamala.

The other part in delivering this winning tale is the work of artist Paolo Villanelli and colorist Ian Herring.  I like that they recall the work of Ms. Marvel's originating artist, Adrian Alphona, without lazily imitating him.  Villanelli and Herring create a bright, sunny, positive story that makes me wish this Generations tale had a second life.  Generations: Ms. Marvel & Ms. Marvel #1 is certainly a Generations comic book worth reading.

A
8 out of 10

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


The text is copyright © 2017 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: E IS FOR EXTINCTION #4

E IS FOR EXTINCTION No. 4
MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

WRITERS: Chris Burnham and Dennis Culver
ARTIST: Ramon Villalobos
COLORS: Ian Herring
LETTERS: VC's Clayton Cowles
COVER: Ian Bertram with Dave Stewart
VARIANT COVER: James Harren
28pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (November 2015)

“Supernova”

Rated T+

The four-issue comic book miniseries, E is for Extinction, is one of the “Secret Wars Battleworld” comic books that are connected to Marvel Comics' eight-issue event miniseries, Secret Wars, from writer Jonathan Hickman and artist Esad Ribic.  It is written by Chris Burnham and Dennis Culver; drawn by Ramon Villalobos; colored by Ian Herring; and lettered by Clayton Cowles.  E is for Extinction is a re-purposing of the 2001 New X-Men story arc, “E is for Extinction,” from Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely.

In the world of E is for Extinction, Charles Xavier has killed himself.  Magneto carries on his legacy at “The Atom Institute,” a school for exceptional students – both mutant and human alike.  However, Magneto has been hiding an object of incredible power, a Phoenix Egg.  He has also been using the object's power to weaken the original X-Men:  Cyclops, Emma Frost, and Wolverine.  After a massive fight at The Atom Institute between various mutant factions, the Phoenix Egg hatches and reveals... Cassandra Nova... returned to fight her arch-nemesis – Charles Xavier.

I was so in love with E is for Extinction #1 that I was sure that the rest of the series could not live up to the hype of my review of the first issue or my own expectations.  Actually, it did both.  It is one of the most imaginative X-Men stories of the last two decades, and it also does its source material, the original “E is for Extinction,” proud.  I like Ramon Villalobos' crusty take on Frank Quitely's drawing style of the original story.  In fact, Chris Burnham and Dennis Culver take Morrison's X-Men in more far-out places than one would expect from writers who are not Morrison.

Another surprising thing, E is for Extinction is funny (as was the 2001 story).  Its sparkling sense of humor permeates even the most gruesome battles in this story.  It is as if E is for Extinction #4 revels in the idea that the antagonists in this series cannot see that their actions, well-intentioned or not, are making their goals unreachable.  It's a shame that there will not be more of this (I assume), but a trade collection will make this exceptional comic book series available for even more readers to discover it.  And E is for Extinction deserves to be discovered, my X-Men readers.

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:: E IS FOR EXTINCTION #1

E IS FOR EXTINCTION #1
MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel

[This review originally appeared on Patreon.]

WRITER: Chris Burnham
ARTIST: Ramon Villalobos
COLORS: Ian Herring
LETTERS: VC's Clayton Cowles
COVER: Ian Bertram with Dave Stewart
VARIANT COVER: James Harren
36pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (August 2015)

“Relax and Be Replaced

Rated T+

When the Chris Claremont-John Byrne run on The Uncanny X-Men came to an end with the epilogue that was issue #143 (cover date:  March 1981), it was if the series were waiting for the next great thing to happen to it... at least, I can see that in hindsight.  But nothing great, at least in any sustained way, happened... until two decades later.

Grant Morrison began his tenure as an X-Men writer on New X-Men #114 (cover date:  July 2001) with the three-part story, “E is for Extinction.”  It took 20 years, but I think that this was the next great step for the X-Men after landmark run produced by Byrne-Claremont.  With his partner, artist Frank Quitely, changing the graphical storytelling language of the X-Men, Morrison tore down the X-Men and allowed them to make the next big evolutionary leap for which the series had been straining to make in the aftermath of “The Dark Phoenix Saga.”

Alas, it was not to be, even Morrison could not recreate that spark-as-big-bang that was “E is for Extinction.”  It did not help that Quitely was (and still is) not the kind of artist that can produce art for a monthly publishing schedule past three issues.  And truthfully, Quitely was Morrison's equal in taking the X-Men to new places.  After New X-Men #114-116, the series was quirky and different, but hardly revolutionary or evolutionary, for that matter.  The New X-Men never fully reached the promise offered by “E is for Extinction.”

2015:  Marvel Comics is revamping or relaunching its publishing line.  But first, they are going to make lots of money with the multiverse destroying event miniseries, Secret Wars, and a veritable fleet of tie-in and spin-off comic book series.  Each series is set in a part of “Battleworld,” which is all that is left of the multiverse.  I am ignoring those comics for the most part but...

I could not ignore the cover for a comic book entitled E is for Extinction.  This “Secret Wars Battleworld” comic book takes Morrison and Quitely's classic story and takes it to new places, much as the original once did for the X-Men comic book.   E is for Extinction is drawn by Ramon Villalobos, who is copying Quitely's style in the best way.  Ian Herring provides colors, and Clayton Cowles is the letterer.  Best of all, the writer of E is for Extinction is Chris Burnham.  He is the artist and co-creator with Grant Morrison of the comic book, Nameless (published by Image Comics).  Like Quitely, Burnham is brilliant at taking the craziness of Morrison's writing and translating it into comic book art that does more than just tell a story.  Burnham creates new worlds of new times and new essences.

It is Burnham who takes the possibilities of  “E is for Extinction” the story arc and delivers on that potential with E is for Extinction the comic book.  E is for Extinction #1 (“Relax and Be Replaced”) opens with the event that give Magneto victory over Charles Xavier – Professor X.  “X years later,” Magneto guides the New X-Men from “The Xavier Memorial Educational Nexus” a.k.a. “The Atom Institute.”  He has a new attitude about the future of homo superior and normal humans, and he's got something growing in the basement to serve his cause.

When he isn't at home in District X, the Beast is at “Mutopia Medical Center,” where he can tell normal human men how many of their sperm carry the “X-gene.”  Meanwhile, at the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning, Cyclops and Emma Frost are living as X-Men-past, as their powers dim.  They have a plan to get their mojo back, but it means they need to get the band back together...

Ramon Villalobos brings Chris Burnham's story to life as the kind of comic book storytelling that refuses to be ordinary.  Villalobos makes Quitely's style practical and also visually striking and bracing.  I am flabbergasted.  I wanted to read this E is for Extinction comic book, but I did not expect to get this fantastic comic book that keeps me flipping through it pages.

I have more praise for it, but I better save it for issue #2.

A

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact the author for syndication rights and fees.

I Reads You Review: MS. MARVEL #1

MS.MARVEL (2014) #1
MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel

WRITER: G. Willow Wilson
ART: Adrian Alphona
COLORS: Ian Herring
LETTERS: VC's Joe Caramagna
COVER: Sara Pichelli with Justin Ponsor
VARIANT COVERS: Arthur Adams; Peter Steigerwald; Jamie McKelvie
28pp, Color, $2.99 U.S. (January 2015 – Seventh printing)

Rated T+

“Meta-Morphosis” Part One of Five

The original Ms. Marvel, a Marvel Comics female superhero character, was created by writer Gerry Conway and artist John Buscema.  First appearing in Ms. Marvel #1 (cover dated: January 1977), she was meant to be the female counterpart of Marvel's Captain Marvel (who first appeared in 1967), not to be confused with Fawcett and later DC Comics' Shazam-Captain Marvel.

There is a new Ms. Marvel, and she is Kamala Khan.  Created by Sana Amanat, G. Willow Wilson, and Adrian Alphona, Kamala is the fourth character to take the name Ms. Marvel.  Kamala, who first appeared in Captain Marvel #17 (cover dated: November 2013), is a 16 year-old Pakistani-American from Jersey City, New Jersey.  She idolizes Carol Danvers, the original Ms. Marvel who is now the new Captain Marvel.  Kamala was given her own Ms. Marvel series, which premiered in February 2014, and she became Marvel Comics' first Muslim character to star in her own comic book.

I remember the debut of the new Ms. Marvel comic book series, but I ignored it.  Then, I read The Amazing Spider-Man #7 (2014), in which the new Ms. Marvel appeared, and I suddenly became interested in her.  Luckily, my comic book shop had reprints of the first issue of Kamala's Ms. Marvel comic book series, written by G. Willow Wilson, drawn by Adrian Alphona, colored by Ian Herring, and lettered by Joe Caramagna.

Ms. Marvel #1 (“Meta Morphosis”) opens in Jersey City at a Circle Q, where Kamala is holding court with her friend, Nakia, and an employee, Bruno.  This gathering, in a small way, encapsulates the problems that Kamala is having with her parents, her culture, and her religion.  Wouldn't it be cool if she could eat bacon?  If only she could be like her beloved Avengers:  Captain America, Iron Man, and especially Captain Marvel.  Eventually, she will get what she wants, but not the way she wants it.

It was not until after I picked up a copy of Ms. Marvel #1 – Seventh Printing that I discovered that Ms. Marvel was a buzzed-about new comic book.  Some are calling it the best comic book of 2014, as I learned via an email from Diamond Distributors and also from an article at website, Comic Book Resources.  I don't know if I would call it the best comic book of the year, but if I made a list, it would definitely be in my “Top 10.”

I think of Ms. Marvel as a “girl's comic book,” but I do not mean that in a derogatory way.  I am not one of those fans who think that every superhero comic book from either Marvel or DC Comics must be alike.  They don't have to all be rehashes and revamps of the same templates and editorial mindsets that old white guys established beginning in the early 1960s, i.e. the Silver Age.  I don't mind something completely different.

This new Ms. Marvel is something different; it is something else.  It presents a girl's point of view; it is about a young woman struggling to come into her own.  Ms. Marvel is not aimed at me; it is not written to appease my fanboy demands.

And that doesn't matter.  I like Ms. Marvel anyway.  It's so good.  It is so different, yet some of the things with which Kamala Khan struggles are universal, so I recognized the dilemmas she faces.  When I ignored what I expected from the typical superhero comic book, I found myself embracing Ms. Marvel.  I want more of it, and I want to share this with my niece when she is older.

I guess I should not be surprised.  Ms. Marvel writer, G. Willow Wilson's late Vertigo series, Air, was decidedly unusual, but alluring and intriguing.  I had recently stopped giving letter grades to first issues, but I will make an exception for the first issue of Ms. Marvel.

A+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


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