Review: INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #1

INVINCIBLE IRON MAN (2015) No. 1
MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

WRITER: Brian Michael Bendis
ART: David Marquez
COLORS: Justin Ponsor
LETTERS: VC's Clayton Cowles
COVER: David Marquez with Justin Ponsor
VARIANT COVERS: Adi Granov, Ryan Stegman with Richard Isanove; Sara Pichelli with Jason Keith; Mahmud Asrar with Sonia Oback; Valerio Schiti with Jason Keith; Nick Bradshaw with Paul Mounts; Bruce Timm; Skottie Young; Brian Stelfreeze; John Tyler Christopher; Yasmine Putri; Dale Oliver photographed by Judy Stephens
28pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (December 2015)

Rated “T+”

I was very happy with the most recent “new” Iron Man comic book series, Superior Iron Man, that was launched in 2014 as part of Marvel Comics' “Avengers NOW!” initiative.  As part of the “All-New All-Different Marvel,” there is a new Iron Man comic book, and it is entitled Invincible Iron Man.  This new series is written by Brian Michael Bendis; drawn by David Marquez; colored by Justin Ponsor; and lettered by Clayton Cowles.

Bendis and Marquez were the creative team of the second Miles Morales Spider-Man comic book, and Invincible Iron Man was the title of an Iron Man (2008) comic book written by Matt Fraction and drawn by Salvador Larroca.  I loved me some Miles, but I did not read a single issue of the Fraction-Larroca Iron Man, although I still plan to do so.

Invincible Iron Man #1 opens with an former A.I.M. operative trying to make a deal with Madame Masque.  Meanwhile, Tony Stark is enjoying some shop time and finally finishes him newest armor, his best armor.  He will need this new suit as enemies old, new, and transformed step forward.

This breezy first issue of Invincible Iron Man makes it difficult to be particularly critical or adoring of it.  But I do like it, and will read future issues.  I enjoy the Bendis-Marquez team, and if this first issue is any indication, I will enjoy this duo again.  Still, I don't know if this Iron Man comic book will be a particularly memorable one, which is something I can say about Superior Iron Man.  Knowing Bendis, I should have an idea soon.

B+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


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

I Reads You Review: ROCKET RACCOON #1 (2014)

ROCKET RACCOON (2014) #1
MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel

WRITER/ARTIST: Skottie Young
COLORS: Jean-Francois Beaulieu
LETTERS: Jeff Eckleberry
COVER: Skottie Young
VARIANT COVERS: Skottie Young; Leonel Castellani; David Peterson; J. Scott Campbell with Nei Ruffino; Sara Pichelli with Justin Ponsor; Jeff Smith with Tom Gaadt; and Dale Keown with Jason Keith
28pp, Color, $3.99 (September 2014)

Rocket Raccoon created by Bill Mantlo and Keith Giffen

Rated T

“A Chasing Tale” Part 1

Rocket Raccoon, the space-based Marvel Comics superhero created by writer Bill Mantlo and artist Keith Giffen (first appearing in Marvel Preview #7 – cover dated: Summer 1976), received a snazzy makeover in 2008.  He's verbose, proactive, and doesn't mind popping a cap in sentient ass.  He even recently received his first ongoing comic book series, Rocket Raccoon, written and drawn by Skottie Young and colored by Jean-Francois Beaulieu.  This is also the first ongoing comic book series both written and drawn by Young.

Rocket Raccoon #1 (“A Chasing Tale” Part 1) opens three years in the past, showing how Rocket rescued Amalya, who would apparently become his girlfriend.  Moving to the present, Rocket is on Planet Nivlent, where Rocket's Guardians of the Galaxy teammate, Groot (a sentient tree-like creature), is fighting in a wrestling match.  It is there that Rocket discovers that he is a wanted man... err... raccoon... hmm... being.  In fact, Rocket is wanted for committing several murderers, which he doesn't remember committing.

I really didn't care for Rocket Raccoon #1 after reading the first 11 pages.  When the story brings in Rocket's Guardians teammate, Star-Lord, the story changes into something fun and exciting.  The energy in the story simply explodes.  I can say that the art for the entire issue is fantastic.  Skottie Young and Jean-Francois Beaulieu are a match made in comic book heaven.

There is a Saturday morning cartoon quality to the art that really takes off in the second half.  From a graphical standpoint, Rocket Raccoon #1 doesn't really look like a Marvel comic book.  In fact, Skottie Young doesn't seem like a Marvel Comics artist, which makes this Rocket Raccoon comic book look like an indie book put out by Oni Press or Top Shelf Productions.  For Marvel Comics fans, however, Rocket Raccoon looks like it will be something different, and the Marvel Universe could use a little different – something that does not look standardized.

B+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux

The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.

I Reads You Review: INHUMAN #2

INHUMAN #2
MARVEL COMICS - @Marvel

WRITER: Charles Soule
ARTIST: Joe Madureira
COLORS: Marte Gracia
LETTERS: VC’s Clayton Cowles
COVER:  Joe Madureira and Marte Gracia
VARIANT COVER: Frank Cho with Jason Keith
28pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (July 2014)

Rated T+

Party 2: The Queen in the Sky

The Inhumans are a race of superhumans that appear in Marvel Comics.  This race was created by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee and first appeared in Fantastic Four #45 (cover dated: December 1965).  They are a strain of humanity that began with genetic manipulation by visitors to Earth from an alien civilization (the Kree) long ago in human prehistory.

The last year has seen the Inhumans begin to have a more prominent place in the Marvel Universe.  There is a new Inhumans comic book series, entitled Inhuman, written by Charles Soule, drawn by Joe Madureira, colored by Marte Gracia, and lettered Clayton Cowles.  Recently, the re-launched The Amazing Spider-Man #1 (thankfully) reprinted the sold-out Inhuman #1 (Part 1: Genesis).

Inhuman #2 (“The Queen in the Sky”) opens in the remains of Attilan, the capital city of the Inhumans, now located in the Hudson River on the New York/New Jersey border.  Inside, the former human musician Dante is trying to understand what happened to him.  He was exposed to the Terrigan Cloud, a runaway dispersion of the Terrigan Mists.  Anyone with Inhuman DNA buried in their genetic code undergoes a stunning transformation when exposed to the Terrigan Mists.  Post exposure, Dante has a tendency to suddenly burst into flame, and now, he wants to be cured or else…

Meanwhile, Medusa, Queen of the Inhumans and wife of Black Bolt (the presumed dead King of the Inhumans), tries to hold Attilan together.  She must also reach out both to the new Inhumans created by the rogue Terrigan Cloud and to humanity at large.  Now, Captain America wants a word with her.

I am enjoying Inhuman as much as I enjoyed writer Paul Jenkins and artist Jae Lee’s 1999, twelve-issue miniseries, Inhumans.  To be honest, my initial interest in Inhuman had to do with the announcement that the series artist would be Joe Madureira, whom I have admired going back to his early work on Deadpool and Uncanny X-Men for Marvel in and around 1993-94.  With Inhuman, the combination of his compositions with Marte Gracia’s colors is producing Madureira’s most energetic art and most vigorous storytelling since his creator-owned series, Battle Chasers.

The driving force behind Inhuman, however, might be writer Charles Soule.  He juggles multiple conspiracies, subplots, groups of characters, motivations, and storylines like a maestro of must-watch, soap opera television.  Perhaps, it was fate that made Matt Fraction, the writer originally intended to helm Inhuman, depart the series because of “creative differences.”  Fate knew what Charles Soule could do with this title.

A

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.

I Reads You Review: WOLVERINE #1

WOLVERINE (2013) #1
MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel

WRITER: Paul Cornell
PENCILS: Alan Davis
INKS: Mark Farmer
COLORS: Matt Hollingsworth
LETTERS: VC’s Cory Petit
COVER: Alan Davis and Mark Farmer with Jason Keith
VARIANT COVERS: Olivier Coipel; Salvador Larroca and Frank D’Armata; Humberto Ramos and Edgar Delgado; Skottie Young
28pp, Color, $3.99 (May 2013)

Parental Advisory

Until Demon Knights #1 (DC Comics, 2011), I disliked every comic book written by Paul Cornell that I read.  Now, I have found another one that has really grabs my imagination.  It is the new eponymous Wolverine comic book, part of the Marvel NOW initiative that has seen the re-launch of several Marvel titles.

Wolverine is written by Cornell and drawn penciller Alan Davis and his longtime inker, Mark Farmer.  This new series is not specifically a team-up series, but it will apparently feature some surprising guest appearances by Marvel characters, both the familiar, the surprising, and the unusual.

Trying to stay relatively spoiler free, I will say that Wolverine #1 (“Hunting Season” Part 1 of 4) opens with Wolverine in a bad way.  The cause is Robert Gregson, a 41-year-old man on a murderous rampage, and Gregson’s young son, Alex, may be the only person who can help Wolverine put an end to a massacre.

To me, Wolverine #1 simply works because Cornell manages to put Wolverine in a perilous situation, one in which he actually seems imperiled.  The longer these superhero characters are published, the more they become like indestructible demigods and the less like fragile humans with special abilities, which is what most Marvel characters are in their beginnings.  However, without revealing spoilers, I can say that I certainly thought Wolverine would be killed, and that made Wolverine #1 an exciting read.

The other reason I like this comic book is Alan Davis.  I love this comic book artist, and it is always a joy to read comic books drawn by Davis – even when the story isn’t that good.  He brings humanity to the characters, emphasizing their vulnerability over their super powers.  I look forward to following this Wolverine series – especially if both Cornell and Davis keep delivering the good stuff.

A-

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux

The text is copyright © 2013 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

I Reads You Review: AVENGERS VS. X-MEN #0

"Without a bang"

AVENGERS VS. X-MEN #0
MARVEL COMICS

WRITERS: Brian Michael Bendis, Jason Aaron
ARTIST: Frank Cho
COLORS: Jason Keith
LETTERS: Chris Eliopoulos
COVERS: Frank Cho with Jason Keith; Stephanie Hans (alternate cover)
40pp, Color, $3.99 U.S.

Rated: T+

Avengers vs. X-Men is Marvel Comics’ current giant, crossover, event series. I’ve read comments on the old Interweb that suggest Avengers vs. X-Men will be Marvel’s biggest publishing event in over a decade, at least from the point of view of sales.

I am sure that it will be a big thing. This planned 12-issue miniseries pits the Avengers and the X-Men against each other, apparently over The Phoenix. The X-Men are a sales and merchandising juggernaut for Marvel, and the franchise has produced five successful films for 20th Century Fox. The Avengers are a little less than a month away from their debut on the big screen, when the film, Marvel’s The Avengers, arrives. Two Iron Man movies have a combined gross of over one billion dollars in worldwide box office. In 2011, two other Avengers films, Thor and Captain America, each made more than 170 million dollars in domestic box office.

Avengers vs. X-Men #0 is a prologue to the main event and focuses on Avenger, Scarlet Witch, and X-Man, Hope Summers, and blends two separate stories starring each character. In the Scarlet Witch story (written by Brian Michael Bendis), the reality-warping mutant and long-time member of the Avengers hopes to get back into the superhero business. She takes on M.O.D.O.K., but ends up needing help from Spider-Woman and Ms. Marvel. This reunion leads to a bigger reunion, but perhaps, the Scarlet Witch can’t go home again.

In the Hope Summers story (written by Jason Aaron), the young woman called the “mutant messiah,” feels confined by others’ expectations of her. Hope spends her time ruthlessly punishing non-super-powered criminals, but now, she faces the Serpent Society.

For a prologue to a big, big event, Avengers vs. X-Men #0 is surprisingly blasé. The Avengers come across as stock figures in their appearance here, except for The Vision and the Scarlet Witch. This duo is where the fire is in this story, but the constraints forced upon the story smother the fire. The Hope Summers story is only a tad bit better – if it is actually appropriate for me to use the word “better” to describe this comic book. The other characters are wooden, and Hope is petulant, but in a totally boring king of way.

The art by Frank Cho is technically well-drawn, but looks like a mechanical exercise that at least 20 other robo-artists-for-hire could have done in the same drawing style and with the same lack of panache.

I hope issue #1 is better, and I’ll find out soon.

C+

Appearances:
HEROES: Scarlet Witch, Hope Summers; The Avengers: Beast, Iron Man, Ms. Marvel, Spider-Woman, Thor, The Vision, Wolverine; The X-Men: Cyclops, Emma Frost

VILLAINS: M.O.D.O.K.; The Serpent Society: Anaconda, Asp, Bushmaster, Cottonmouth, Puff Adder