Reviews for 7/8/10

I often write reviews of the comics I'm reading, as I read them, and in an effort to use this blog more, I'll be posting them here when I write them. I cannot guarantee that they will have terrible amounts of substance, and they will all be full of spoilers, but if there is interest, they'll be here.

This week: Steve Rogers is EVERYWHERE, my favourite characters keep showing up, and I am never going to have any money ever again. But we knew that already. Reviews after the jump!


Young Avengers: Children's Crusade:
For the first part, I found the plot a little shaky in terms of characterisation. I can't really figure out when this is supposed to be going on, though I suspect it's taking place a little ahead of the rest of Marvel continuity -- since it's on a bimonthly schedule and all. The characters themselves all had some great moments, and the Young Avengers definitely shone. (I love Billy as narrator, can I just say?) The Billy-and-Cap-and-then-Teddy scene was excellent. But what made it for me was MAGNETO TURNING UP ON THE LAST PAGE. I could go off about how versatile and interesting a character Magneto is, and how cool it is that Billy and Tommy and Magneto will be working together to find the Scarlet Witch, but I think it speaks for itself.

I would like to put in that I've been saying Billy should reverse the events of House of M for over a year, and if that actually happens I will be ridiculously smug.

Verdict: definitely reading the rest.

Steve Rogers: Super Soldier #1
PETE WISDOM. PETE WISDOM. PETE WISDOM IN MY CAPTAIN AMERICA COMIC.

Ahem.

The artist has a tendency for the dramatic, which sort of detracts from the plot because I'm too busy laughing at the hilarious expressions and postures. But they're quite good, technically.

I really like the start, and not just because I am the biggest Pete Wisdom fanboy ever. Pete's not as much of a hardass as he'd like to think, and he's also a clever and manipulative bastard. Maybe he told Steve about this guy who'd cracked the Super-Soldier serum because it seemed like something Steve ought to know, but he probably figured Steve would be pretty well suited to stopping Nextin from manufacturing it.

I have a feeling there's something about Nextin that Pete's either not telling us or doesn't know. But that would be obvious through the conventions of this kind of story. What confuses me is that no one at the Madripoor gala recognises Steve. But that's another one of those genre things that I can ignore.

(Okay, it's not just the art. It's the flashbacks. The flashbacks are overdramatic in both art and dialogue. To show it's the Golden Age? But oh god, death by cliche!)

Steve's new costume is really cool. I am a huge fan. Also, his force-field shield is a nice touch.

Like I predicted: something going on that Pete didn't call. Erskine wasn't a bad guy (though the 'I changed my name to get your attention' seems awfully junior high. He couldn't've, I dunno, sent a letter? Paid him a visit? Anything more direct than hoping Steve would hear about this through the grapevine?) but someone else is pulling the strings.

Verdict: definitely a good romp. Fun writing, interesting plot (though I doubt it'll surprise me much), and Pete Wisdom. Will be continuing to read this.

Shadowland #1:
"Matt Murdock Dared Evil And Lost" is possibly the worst tagline ever. But hooray for bad puns!

Anyway. Gorgeous artwork in this one -- I particularly love the Shadowland splash after Bullseye escapes. And Bullseye is absolutely brilliant. "And now I'm gonna put you in your grave, you sanctimonious schmuck. And then I'm gonna kill your wife. And your friends. And all your little ninja buddies. And then... I dunno. Maybe a sandwich."

Good display of how much Matt's bought into the Hand mentality (or has been brainwashed into it): Luke and Danny, having promised the Avengers to talk to him, encounter him and he and some Hand ninjas take on Bullseye. They offer to help, Matt asks, "Will you swear allegiance to the Hand?" They say no. He tells them to stay out of the way as he goes to "finish this - once and for all!"

Great fight scene with Bullseye and the Hand ninjas, and great aside with Luke and Danny, who don't see the end coming until it's too late. The splash page with Matt killing Bullseye is a beautiful callback to Elektra's death, and there we have it -- Matt's finally hit bottom. With no alter ego to stabilise him, no Foggy, no Milla, he's all Daredevil. And with no one but the Hand to turn to, is it any wonder that they've corrupted him? First seizing power in New York, and now the abandonment of his principles. This is a villain's origin story in the making.

To make this clear: I am not of the "heroes should never kill" camp. I think that in some cases, villains who cannot be contained, who continuously kill others and have no desire to stop, killing them in combat is self-defense. Working tirelessly to save them at the expense of other lives isn't necessary. But part of Daredevil was always that he didn't kill. And the fact that he's killing now, that he went into battle with the intention to kill, means something profound has changed about him. And it's not for the better.

Verdict: I'm hooked. Next issue?