Sigil #1 Comic Review and the Return of CrossGen Comics

Sigil is the first of Marvel’s new CrossGen line of comics, soon to be followed by The Ruse. Sigil is a miniseries written by writer Mike Carey who is best known for his work on Marvel’s X-Men Legacy and Vertigo’s the Unwritten.

The story follows 16 year old girl Samantha as she struggles with average high school troubles such as bullies and class. But she is unlike other girls her age, she recently developed an interesting birthmark on her chest that has also began to cause out of this world dreams unlike anything anyone could imagine.

Marvel .1 Series: Invicible Iron Man 500.1

Invincible Iron Man 500.1 is the first of Marvels .1 series that they are using to promote readers picking up new series. These issues are places where a reader could easily pick up the gist of what has been going on with the main character of the series since their inception and get a feel of where the story is at, at this point and time.

In this issue we find Tony Stark at an Alcoholic’s Anonymous meeting. He uses this as a forum to tell his life story, tell about how he became Iron man, tell about his encounters as Iron Man, and tell about how everything in his life has meshed together in order to become what it is today.

She Hulk #1

This is one of the few new series that are beginning from the fallout of Fall of the Hulks. Going into the issue I was a little skeptical about who was working on the issue since I really had seen much, if anything from the writer and artist; which I will touch on later in this review.

The story takes place right after the end of Fall of the Hulks and Jennifer Walters (She-Hulk), and the Bruce Banner’s daughter Lyra, the She-Hulk from the 23rd century. They have been tasked by Banner to track down the members of the Intelligencia so that Hulk can enact his revenge.

Kick-Ass 2 #1

Last week when I heard that this issue was coming out, I had almost forgot that Mark Millar and John Romita Jr. were going to make a sequel to Kick-Ass. At first I was excited, then I was disappointed when I heard that the book was going to follow what happened in the movie, and not what happened in the previous comic series. But after finally reading the comic, I am not disappointed at all.

X-23 #1

For some time I have known that X23 was going to be getting her own series, not only because it was announced awhile ago, but also because her rising popularity over the last 4 years or so made it apparent that Marvel would soon try to start her with her own series.

I cannot say that I was hopeful for this comic. Instead of condemning this book from the start I decided that I would at least read it and give it a shot.

Green Arrow #3 Review

This is the third issue in the newest Green Arrow series released by DC, and is just one of the many titles that is tied into the Brightest Day crossover that has been going on for the last four months. I have had an interest in reading this series for awhile since I really enjoy Green Arrow as a character, but have avoided it due to the fact that I am not reading Brightest Day in any way, shape, or form. I feel as though i would be lost at many points in the story, so I never gave it a chance. Finally after hearing it was a good book from so many people, I decided to suck it up and check it out, and to be honest I was completely wrong, I wasn’t really lost at all.

Issue three starts off after a more than exciting event that took place at the end of issue two; Oliver Queen had been shot in the head, ironically, with an arrow. As our hero lies there thinking he is going to die, a strange, unknown character rescues him. The story contains a lot of backstory, including information about the new character that has been introduced. But the majority of the backstory is about Green Arrows father and the corruption that surrounded him. One of the interesting things that occur in the book is the allusion to the Brightest Day, such as placement of the White Lantern symbol, the strategic use of the word “brightest” and the use of the term giving life. It is quite creative if you ask me.

The writing and art are great in this book. I was a big fan of J.T Krul on the last Green Arrow series, so to see him continue with the character was okay in my opinion. I was even happier to see that Diogenes Neves was working on the book; I was a huge fan of his art on New Mutants, so to see his talent being used in this book made me more than happy. Above all though, the best part of this series is the fact that DC has Mauro Cascioli doing the covers for this series. I loved his work on Cry for Justice and it is really hard to one-up his painted covers.

Overall, this was a great issue. Some downsides are that it is an information issue, so there isn’t a large amount of action, and the main thing that I did not like about this book was that it read too darn fast! But like I said, it was a fun read and is worked on by men of great talent.

8 out of 10

Originally Posted on the Chris' Comics Official Website

Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #1

I remember hearing about this book a few months ago and thinking, another Green Lantern book? But after thinking about it, with Green Lantern being the biggest thing since sliced bread in the DCU why would I be surprised? When I opened this issue today I remembered the real reason I thought the book was a out of the blue, it was because the book focuses on Green Lantern Guy Gardner. Although a major player in the Green Lantern universe, it just seems out of place and un-needed that Gardner have his own book, but you cannot always judge a book by its cover, so I opened up and took a look for myself.

One of the first things I noticed when starting this book is that the art is great! Fernando Pasarin (JSA, The Outsiders) has a nice clean look to his art, lots of detail and style, which is definitely needed when it comes to a Green Lantern title. On top of that you have the great story telling of Peter Tomasi (Green Lantern Corps) that does not fail to deliver in this issue.

The story itself has its ups and downs though. Lets get the negatives out of the way first so that we can end on a positive note. Many Green Lantern fans may have noticed by now that they are not able to enjoy any of the Green Lantern books without taking part in the Brightest Day cross over that is occurring right now because of how intertwined the stories are, and with this book there is no exception. The entire story that is occurring in this issue stems off of an event that took place in Brightest Day #0, which I understand that major crossovers effect the other books involved, but not to a degree in which a new reader, or even an older reader in this case cannot enjoy the book. I myself was forced to drop all the Lantern books because I was not a fan of Brightest Day.

Lets switch from this negative attitude to a positive one. This book was not bad at all! Like I said before the art and story were great! The book has the perfect amount of action to information ratio and was a really great first issue. It delve deeper into the pact that was made between Gardner, Ganthet, and Atrocious, as well as shined more light upon why exactly the Blackest Night occurred. It demonstrated the over the top, powerful nature of Guy Gardner and his newly appointed authoritative role in the Green Lantern universe. To top it all of, there is a surprise ending that will leave any Green Lantern fan seriously wanting more!

8 out of 10

Walking Dead #75

This was my first time reading this comic, even after I was told by umpteen amounts of people to check out this critically acclaimed series by Robert Kirkman (Marvel Zombies), and after finishing the issue I am seriously thinking about picking up the Walking Dead hard cover that is on sale at Chris’ Comics right now. This landmark 75^th issue has some interesting twists included in it. Featuring a special section of the book that fulfills a promise that Kirkman made to the readers way back in issue seven of the series. I’m not going to ruin it though because it is so bizarre. One thing I will say is that it is in full color, which makes it an even greater eye-popping event within this black and white series.

This issue is action packed, not so much with zombie interactions (don’t worry faithful fans, there is still a small amount of zombies getting their heads blown off etc!). The issue revolves around Rick having a confrontation with the Doctor of the non-infected town they are residing, saying that he should be ejected from the town because he has been abusing his family, but since the man is the doctor of the town the mayor questions Rick and the end result is surprising to say the least. This issue is action packed and entertaining for its entirety, it will be interesting to see how this all pans out and affects the roles of all the characters involved.

8 out of 10

*Originally Posted on the Chris' Comics Official Website

Avengers: The Children’s Crusade #1

When I first saw that this maxi-series was being released I found myself saying, “Another Avengers title?!” and almost decided not to buy the book. The main thing that intrigued me is that the story revolves around the Young Avengers, a team that has played an integral role in the Marvel universe for all the major events for the last 4 years or so. They are also a team who seems to be written well, the characters work great together, and their series never seem to be disappointing. Therefore, I decided to pick up the title.

After cracking the book open and reading about a third of the story, you learn that the agenda of the story is figuring out if Wiccan and Speed are the children of Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch. The Avengers are led to believe this after an incident occurs during a battle the Young Avengers were having with a terrorist organization, which led Wiccan to discover powers he had far beyond the norm. This causes great distress in both the Avengers and Young Avengers teams, almost labeling Wiccan as an outcast.

The story continues and has many interesting twists, and actually ends up providing a large amount of information, which was especially surprising because this series is going to be a nine issue Maxi. It will be interesting to see if the remaining eight issues will be as information packed and interesting as the first.

What stands out the most in this issue is the art of artist Jim Cheung (New Avengers: Illuminati, Young Avengers), I have always been a fan of Cheung, his art is so clean and in the middle of the book he features a two page spread that is describing the history of the Scarlett Witch which is excellent. It was also nice to see that the writer was Alex Heinberg, the original writer of the Young Avengers title was writing this series, which meant that this book had its original creative team, which really added to the story if you ask me.

This issue was far beyond what I originally thought it was going to be, and I am excited to see what is going to happen to this team as the series continues. Maybe the Marvel universe will even be re-introduced to the Scarlett Witch. Only time will tell!

8 out of 10


Originally posted on the Chris' Comics Official Website

Cornbread's Favorite and Least Favorite Comics of the Week - 5/5

Favorite Comic: The New Avengers Finale

I was pretty skeptical about buying this book because of its 5 dollar price tag, but after giving it a read I was pretty satisfied with the amount of money I spent. I knew that this would be a conclusion of the New Avengers series, but after opening the first page I quickly learned that this was the finale of Siege as well; as I read the book it tied up all of the loose ends of Siege and brought it to a pretty good conclusion.

Brian Michael Bendis is probably one of the best conversation writers in comics, and this issue really showed that. The things that the Avengers said to each other during most of the big battles were pretty entertaining and witty. Im usually pretty satisfied with Hitch's art work and it was no different with this issue.

I was really happy that Ms. Marvel played a large role in this books story. She is a great character and I was pretty unhappy with the fact that her book got canceled. The main battle against Count Nefaria was really exciting especially because it exhibited the full extent of Ms. Marvel's powers and it was pretty impressive and drawn well.

There was never a low point of this book if you ask me, which is the main reason why I didnt mind the fact that I paid 5 dollars for the book. Bendis did a great job wrapping up the story line with this set of New Avengers, and I am excited to see what he is going to do with the next set.

8 out of 10

Cornbread's Favorite and Least Favorite Comics of the Week - 3/31

Favorite Comic: Aladdin Legacy of the Lost #2
*Warning Spoiler Alert*

First off, for the price this book is great. 4.99 for 64 pages with no ads? You cant beat that. Now onto the review, When I first started doing these comic reviews every week Aladdin LotL #1 was rated my least favorite comic of the week. But if you look back and/or remember what I said at the end of the review is that the second book was bound to be better, and it was. This issue really develops the story that I was dying for in the last issue, as well as introduces a couple of really cool characters. The art of Sejic is awesome and really brings the book alive, although sometimes it is a little hard to follow because of the way some of the pages are set up.

The story picks up by introducing the King and his daughter the Princess. Aladdin has become a prince because of his discovery of the magic lamp, and is giving money to the poor. The King double crosses him and turns him over to his nemesis Quassi and there is a fight between the two of them. Aladdin ends up cutting off his hand and acquiring a magic ring that he has, unbeknown to what it can do. Aladdin seeks aid from Captain Sinbad and he brings Aladdin to the Mantis queen for help. By the end of the book Aladdin is able to access the power of the ring he found and the story ends with a great set up for the last installment of this mini series.

Many other events take place during this comic, but I dont want to ruin them for anyone who wishes to read it. But regardless, if you are not reading this check it out. It is a great value for the price and since you would be able to read both issues one and two at the same time it would make issue one better because the reader will get the instant gratification of issue two. Regardless, this is a great read and I cant wait for the last issue.

8 out of 10

Cornbread's Favorite and Least Favorite Comics of the Week - 3/3

Hey Everyone. It was a pretty small week so it was kinda hard to pick a favorite and least favorite. But here it is

Favorite Comic: New Ultimates #1
*Warning Spoiler Alert*

Its is kinda weird as to why I decided to pick up this comic, its just that I really liked the Variant cover for the issue so I thought I would give it a shot. First off, I would like to state that the art is what made this my favorite comic of the week. Frank Cho, I salute you. In addition, I surprisingly enjoyed the humor that was put into the book by Jeff Loeb (even though they were only funny because Cho's art made them that way). I dont usually like the Ultimate series because of how different the universe is, but this was pretty good and makes me want to give the Ultimate Comics line another chance (which is why I picked up Ultimate X to read later this week). The best part is probably Thor's face half way through the book which if you read this you will know exactly what I am talking about. The cover is kinda ridiculous though, it is a 6 page long pull out "poster" that is just over the top and is folded very strangely which makes it look bad. Anyways, I enjoyed the book, but I am kind of disappointed that it will come out so infrequently.

8 out of 10