DC Universe Online; Legends

One of the things that I was worried about when reading this comic was that it was going to be so heavily intertwined into the storyline of the game that I would not be able to understand the storyline and feel alienated while reading the book. Luckily when I finished the book, the story was well rounded and gave ample information for a new reader and didn’t ostracize anyone not playing the game.

Halcyon #1

The first thing that I noticed when I picked up this issue is that it is written by Amazing Spider-Man author Marc Guggenheim, who in my opinion is one of the better writers on that book. So it is safe to say that I was fairly excited about this book. After reading the issue, I can say that I was not as impressed as I thought I was going to be, let me tell you why.

Before I get into any negatives about the issue, lets first go over the positives. The base storyline of the book is pretty good, which is what I expect from Guggenheim, and the art of Ryan Bodenheim was pretty good as well. Also, the best part of the issue by far is the ending of it, it has a great cliffhanger and you would never expect the result that occurs while reading the story at any point.

Carnage #1

The new Carnage mini series marks two monumental events. First, it is the return of a popular villain, who has not been seen in the Spider-Man universe in quite some time. Second, and probably the more important event is that it is the return of Clayton Crain, the first full length issue he has drawn since the end of the last X-Force series; a very welcomed return from long time fans.

The story begins following three story lines, that of Spider-Man, that of Iron Man/Tony Stark and that of a mysterious Six Armed Spider-Man esque figure that may seem familiar to some hardcore Spidy fans. As the story progresses, all three characters are brought together and the action ensues.

Magnus: Robot Fighter #1

Magnus: Robot Fighter is the second installment of Jim Shooter’s re-birth of classic Gold Key comics from the 1960’s; a few weeks ago I reviewed Dr. Solar issue 1. Although Dr. Solar was good, Magnus was even better. The issue starts out with pure action, in fact the whole issue is almost non-stop robot destruction at the hands of Magnus. Aside from the great action, this issue does a better job of showing Magnus’ background than the first issue of Dr. Solar did with Dr. Solar; the issue features a nice mini story about how 1-A raised Magnus to become the robot-fighting machine he grew to be. The art in the issue had this special feel to it, it made me reminisce of 60’s style art, but it also had that feel of modern day to it too, which was very intriguing. As for the writing, I felt as though Shooter’s story was more retro in its nature, reminding me of comics from the 60’s and keeping the natural feel of the character.

The issue kept an all around good feel to it during its duration, and has a very good ending that will have the reader wanting the second issue to come out. In addition to the action packed first installment of this arc, this issue, like Dr. Solar, had an extra story attached to it that is a re-print of the original Magnus: Robot Fighter from 1963. The issue gives insight as to what has been kept from the old series and what has been changed for the new. All-around, this issue was solid.



7 out of 10

*Originally Posted on the Chris' Comics Official Website

Doctor Solar: Man of the Atom #1

Doctor Solar is a comic character from the 1960’s that has recently been revived by Dark Horse Comics and is written by the legendary Jim Shooter and illustrated by artist Dennis Callero.

The story takes place a short while after the death and resurrection of Doctor Solar, which I am hoping will be explained in more detail in later issues. The story begins with him deep in battle with an enemy known as Leviathan, who soon turns out to be the creation of an author, which Shooter fails to really elaborate on. It is inferred that nobody knows that Doctor Solar has returned from his untimely death, and keeping his secret identity away from his loved ones and the public seems to be one of the main topics of this issue. Without ruining any of the issue, it is action packed to say the least. One of the things I liked about the issue was the art of Callero. It reminded me of the art of Mike McKone (Avengers Academy), but a little sloppier, not having that crisp clean feeling that McKone offers, but it was good nonetheless.

One of the main selling points of this issue is that it a 48 page issue for under $4! It is rare that you will get that much material for such a low price these days, so based on that premise alone it should be worth giving it a shot, and to top it off there are no advertisements detracting from the page count. In addition, the issue also features a reprint of a segment of Solar #1 from 1962, chronicling Doctor Solar’s origins. This is extremely useful when helping a new reader understand the character, especially because there are many storyline and origin holes in this new series. I would even recommend giving the reprinted issue a read before trying to tackle the new content. Also, having this extra material really beefs up the issue, making the issue more than worth cover price, so make sure to check it out, it will be worth your time.

7 out of 10

Originally Posted on the Chris' Comics Official Website

The Sixth Gun #1

The Sixth gun is a new series put out by Indy comic company Oni Press. To be honest, I have not really read many Indy comics, except for a few IDW or Image series here and there. But when you read a book from Oni press, you know it’s as Indy as it can be and you are going to be seeing some of the freshest new talent. Writer Cullen Bunn is relatively knew to the comic world, creating his first work in 2006, while artist Brian Hurt is a little better known having done some work with DC a few years back.

With that said, I can firmly say that the amount of time that these guys have been involved with comics clearly shows in this book. It is safe to say that the highlight of this book was not the writing, it was the art. Hurt’s style really compliments this book well, giving it the dark feeling that it needs in order to shoulder the story being told by Bunn. The story is really confusing at first, Bunn sets up multiple story lines but there is no clear break as to where each one stops and starts, which is something, I really didn’t like. It wasn’t until about mid-way through the issue is when everything finally seems to come together. A major set back-story wise is that there is no back-story really, and many of the story lines that were started were left unfinished/were not tied into the main story. I mean it could be like this because issues one and two were released on the same day and Oni Press figured that people would buy the first two issues together? Or maybe it’s a ploy to get the reader to buy the second issue too? All I can say is that it works, because the last few pages are filled with interesting dialogue and events, so I do have a need to know what happens next.

This book definitely has an interesting premise, some very vague characters who have tons of potential to develop, and lots of violence; even though it is slightly less awesome because of the lack of blood during fight scenes. This is a must read for any Indy reader, and if you’re not really into Indy books, you might just want to check it out.

7 out of 10

*Originally Posted on the Chris' Comics Official Website

Cornbread's Favorite and Least Favorite Comics of the Week - 4/14

Hey everyone, sorry these reviews are a little late. Ive been home on break from school and it just kinda slipped my mind. Anyways, here we go

Favorite Comic: Siege Captain America One-Shot

I was pleasantly surprised with this One-Shot. I dunno if it was because I read it after the Young Avengers one-shot, that it was better by comparison, or if it was because it was just written well. The art was a little iffy, but it wasn't that bad if my memory serves me correctly.

The thing that made the book so good was the fact that it was cool to see Cap and Bucky fighting together again, it was simply classic. The story focused on Cap and Bucky rescuing a family of civilians who were caught in the fall of Asgard from both the destruction of the fall, as well as protecting him from b-list (if that) villain Razor-Fist. Its a great issue to help introduce the relationship between Bucky and Cap to non-Captain America readers, which is good because its a tie in.

It is a solid issue, and not only preps new readers for how important Captain America (Both of them) to the Siege storyline, but it also presents a well put together one-shot featuring Cap that isnt essential to the Siege story-line; unlike the Loki one shot which finally illustrates what Loki has been doing the whole time since he egged Norman on to wage war on Asgard.

If youre a fan of Captain America, definitely check out this issue, if youre not a fan but would like to be a fan check out this issue, if you hate Captain America but thought that you should read this issue for the overall Siege storyline, then you can just forget about this issue because it isnt that important to everything as a whole.

7 out of 10


Least Favorite Comic: Daredevil #506

Although this issue wasn't terrible, it just was not acceptable for a book that was more than a month delayed. I picked up Daredevil after the events of issue #500 which follows Daredevil and his struggle to lead the Hand, and so far it has been pretty good. The first 4 issues were spectacular because of De La Torre's art, and the last two issues had a change of artist which really knocked the book down a few notches for me. Especially since the book shifted over the Matt's relationship with one of the Hand's sub-bosses Bakuto.

In this issue there was a decently interesting fight scene at the beginning of the book featuring Murdock and Bakuto, but it wasn't anything that great and kinda just seemed too drawn out. The book goes on to have more people bickering about Bukato and his misbehavior (much like the last issue) and quickly ended with a mediocre plot twist; which I wont reveal because that would just be too much of a spoiler.

I am just hoping this book switches back to being overwhelmingly excited like it used to be in the next issue, as well as that I hope that the next issue is on time so that I dont lose even more interest in what is going on in the story. I guess we will see what happens next time it's released.

The best part of this issue was the cover by Rivera


4 out of 10