(Click title to go directly to the review)
Advance Review: QUAKE: S.H.I.E.L.D. 50th ANNIVERSARY #1
ADAM.3 #2
BATTLEWORLD: THORS #3 Double Take
Advance Review: HEAD LOPPER #1
DEEP SOUL OGN
DAREDEVIL #18
Advance Review: MIRROR’S EDGE: EXORDIUM #1
Marvel’s SECRET WARS BATTLEWORLD TRAVEL GUIDE XV!
In stores today!QUAKE: S.H.I.E.L.D. 50th ANNIVERSARY #1
Writers: Matthew Rosenberg & Patrick KindlonArtist: Daniel Warren Johnson
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Review: Lionel Putz
S.H.I.E.L.D.’s 50th Anniversary is upon us, and with it a bunch of books that should, in an ideal world, celebrate the history of this corner of the Marvel Universe, while also serving as a welcome mat and jumping-on point for new readers. While I question whether anyone other than the guys at Marvel Television are that excited for S.H.I.E.L.D.’s 50th anniversary (this isn’t Spidey or the Avengers, guys, but, uh…“e” for effort, I guess?), this book is a fairly entertaining romp with a character I previously knew exclusively from ABC’s “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” and her Wikipedia page. And in that regard, I suppose I’d consider it a (modest) success.
Set prior to AVENGERS #20 (2010), this story takes place before the Marvel NOW initiative, and as such, I’m really not sure how exactly it slots into recent Marvel history. Nevertheless, we cold-open with the Inhuman Daisy Johnson, aka “Quake”, handcuffed in a S.H.I.E.L.D. interrogation room with two agents asking her questions about a recent mission and why she felt entitled to screw it up. Cue flashback narrative! We see that Daisy was called up to first team for a raid on an A.I.M. facility by Steve Rogers-vintage Captain America, but Daisy is confused as to why: the team already has a spy (Spider-Woman), a sniper (Hawkeye), a computer (The Vision), a monster (Red Hulk), a goddess (Storm), and an “@$$#*!%” (Iron Man--in her words, not mine). Despite her dismissive colleagues, though, Quake is assured by Cap that she has a place on the team; whether or not she chooses to come along is up to her.
Because this is an advance review, I really don’t want to give away any more than that basic setup. I will say that while this self-contained story isn’t a revelation, it does seem to serve as a nice secret origin for Quake, and has some great character beats for Marvel heavy hitters Steve Rogers and Tony Stark while still staying focused on Daisy. As someone who knows this character (and at least one other who appears) from television only, I wasn’t sure I’d have an access point to this book, but I still found it an enjoyable read. If I had a complaint, it’s that I wish I knew more about where her character was now; without that perspective it’s hard to know if this book was just a fun one-off or whether it was a clever juxtaposition of her current circumstance to show how far she’s come in the past five years. I’m also curious what, if anything, this book might foreshadow about the upcoming “All-New, All-Different Marvel”, in which I believe Ms. Johnson’s role remains a mystery—though, thanks to corporate synergy, she is sure to have one.
I don’t know that anyone was clamoring for a S.H.I.E.L.D. anniversary celebration or a Quake one-shot, but sometimes the best books arrive with the least fanfare. I already loved the incarnation of Daisy Johnson we have on the little screen, and while she’s a considerably different character on the page, I can see the appeal here as well. Again, if the purpose of this trumped-up anniversary is, at least in part, to try to grab new readers going forward, I think we can call this book a win in a photo-finish. I’m amused enough that I will at least try to find Daisy after Secret Wars is over and the Marvel Universe begins again. Hopefully she’s somewhere else where she can call Iron Man an “@$$#*!%”. I’ll read that all day.
Lionel Putz is a lawyer by day and badly wishes his legal briefs could include illustrations and dialogue bubbles. He watched Matlock in a bar last night; the sound wasn't on, but he's pretty sure he got the gist of it. Email him at lionel.putz@gmail.com
ADAM.3 #2
Writer/Artist: Scott KolinsPublisher: Dark Horse Comics
Reviewer: Masked Man
We have another artists jumping into the writer chair, Scott Kolins (though he did write a SOLOMON GRUNDY series for DC a few years back). Scott comes to Dark Horse with a creator-owned project called ADAM.3, calling it a kind of tribute to Jack Kirby, and it does seems to be a high impact meets high heroics story.
Using that insight, I'd say it's modern sci-fi with Jack Kirby flare. ADAM.3 is very much the current flavor of sci fi, even down to the '.' in the title using an unspoiled planet, characters using future speak (saying things like cut instead of offense, chirp instead of talk, etc), super clean advance tech, floating ball computer, and a hint that something bigger is going on--something not good, at that. Wrapped in that is a TARZAN/HERCULOIDS-like adventure. Adam and his mate, Skye, are just chilling in the jungle in their treehouse of tomorrow with their boy, Beo, occupying their time with keeping the jungle animals peaceful (and of course they can talk to the animals). As for the backstory, as in how did everyone get here, are there more humans, and why does this all feel like a giant test tube, no answers yet.
As you might expect, the artwork here is stellar. Even if you are not a fan of Kolins' work, I suggest you check this out. Kolins has always known how to tell a good story in pictures, but it seems he has given himself over to making art on the computer now, and his work has never looked more slick and pop. Also being a personal project, he seems to be raising the bar for himself and it shows. Handling colors as well as pencils and inks, ADAM.3 is perhaps Kolins' best-looking book.
The writing isn't quite as stellar, but we are only two issues in, and Kolins sure seems to be setting up for the long haul. As it is, it's just storytelling. Nothing amazing nor awful, as Adam deals with Beo's issues and the new menace sent to his world. To date I'm getting a good vibe off this book, so I don't see this becoming another ill-written experiment by another artist turned writer/artist, and it shouldn't take too much to turn this into a really fun read. It's close now, but more groundwork has to be laid to fully understand what Kolins is doing here.
Lastly, don't let the sideways printing throw ya. It reads just fine and still fits easily into a comic book bag. Kolins clearly wants ADAM.3 to be everything its spiritual guide, Jack Kirby, is: a bold comic book adventure in every sense of the word.
Editor’s Note: Sometimes a comic is worth reviewing twice and sometimes, your faithful editor screws up and we get a double review of a comic. Out of respect to the time and energy of both reviewers put into the reviews, I decided to post both reviews with this Double Take Review (and yes, I know it’s also covered in the Travel Guide below). Enjoy! – A.BugBATTLEWORLD: THORS #3
Writer: Jason AaronArtist: Chris Sprouse & Goran Sudzuka
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Reviewer: The Kid Marvel
While it may not be one of the best tie-ins to come out of SECRET WARS, or even one of my favorites, THORS is without a doubt an extremely entertaining miniseries and has been a really fun concept to explore, with the idea of various Thors as God Doom’s police force and as a cop drama comic. In THORS #3, Ultimate Thor and the rest of the Thor police force are still recovering from the death of Beta Ray Thor, with their only suspect in the murder none other than the god of mischief himself, Loki. While most of the Thor police force wants to use more excessive means of integration against Loki, Ultimate Thor believes there is more to the story than the evidence on the surface and can’t shake the feeling there is something Loki isn’t telling him. Most of the issue focuses on an expose of Loki and Ultimate Thor’s interaction in the interrogation room until Loki eventually gives up a bit of evidence that leads Ultimate Thor to the Deadlands, where he is met with what looks like a graveyard of Jane Fosters, as well as a traitor among the Thor ranks.
Overall I really enjoyed this issue, mostly for the fact it’s just fun seeing Thor as a cop and Loki as a criminal. There really isn’t much to this miniseries outside of a fun “what if” type of story, but Aaron definitely nails that end of it. While these characters have been in roles, a little different than how they are usually written, Aaron still stays true to their history in terms of personality and reactions to certain scenarios, an example being Loki feeling deep in his heart he is destined for things greater than petty thievery and Thor’s unconscious connection to Jane Foster, shuddering every time her name is spoken. Probably the best part of the issue, which makes up for the bulk of it, is the interrogation between Ultimate Thor and Loki. The general tone of Thor using a variety of tactics to mentally break Loki into giving information is an almost alien concept for Thor outside of this book, but it works so well. The entire interaction between the two is the most clichéd cop interrogation, but making it between the two sons of Asgard turns it into something special.
As for the art, I don’t have much an opinion on that. There are definitely a couple cool scenes and panel sequences, but most of the issue nothing really stands out in that regard. It’s solid artwork; it’s just not unique or doesn’t have that special something that separates it from any other comic. It’s fairly generic and average in most ways. This is not to say it’s bad artwork in the least; it’s just kind of typical for the medium and doesn’t elevate itself outside the box.
To conclude, while it may not be one of the best series coming out of SECRET WARS, it’s definitely one of the most unique and entertaining. The whole premise of the story is a cool idea and Aaron is executing it beautifully. I would recommend checking out the series for the simple fact it’s a guaranteed good read and an enjoyable comic. Is it on the level of some of the other tie-ins like OLD MAN LOGAN or RENEW YOUR VOWS? No, not even close, but it’s an awesome series nonetheless, and issue #3 is no different.
And now another take on BATTLEWORLD: THORS #3
BATTLEWORLD: THORS #3
Writer: Jason AaronArtists: Chris Sprouse & Goran Sudzuka
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Reviewer: Lionel Putz
The past couple of weeks, I’ve reviewed a 40s-style noir whodunit (HOWARD THE HUMAN) and a workplace comedy (HANK JOHNSON: AGENT OF HYDRA), so I think it’s appropriate we check in with THORS #3 this week. Conceived of and advertised as a police procedural featuring Thors, this seemingly ridiculous concept has been playing out as well as any of Jason Aaron’s work on the Thor titles the past few years…which is to say, really freaking well.
I’ve managed to keep up with a lot of the SECRET WARS tie-ins this summer (I’m guessing half overall?), and while many are clearly meant to be their own standalone issues, stories, or series, a few have seemed to drop hints at what’s going on with the main SECRET WARS storyline and what might be in store for the future; even fewer have tied in directly to past continuity. As of this issue, I feel I can safely say this book does both.
Three issues in, we find Ultimate Thor (Thorlief) interrogating a suspect by the name of Loki--the only one we've seen anywhere in Battleworld, I believe--about his role in the murder of Ultimate Thor's partner, Beta Ray Thor, and Jane Foster, who Loki explains was only one of many by that name across Battleworld. Loki loses his cool only when he tells Thorlief that his greatness has been taken from him, and that "the Prince of Lies doesn't like being lied to!" This interrogation scene takes up more than half the issue, and I fear my description doesn't begin to do its style and pacing justice. It's ripped straight from a Michael Mann movie and full of great moments for both Ultimate Thor, who changes his interrogation technique several times, and Loki, who is always at his best with his back against a wall. The God of Mischief knows this isn't his world, and he wants it exposed for the fraud that it is.
On Loki's tip, Ultimate Thor heads to the Deadlands to find out more about these multiple dead Janes, and why they're being murdered. He's ambushed, though, by Rune Thor (aka "Runey"), who reveals that he murdered Beta Ray just before knocking Thorlief out cold. As our hero struggles to regain consciousness, zombies close in. At the last moment, they are mowed down by axe-wielding Unworthy Thor, who's pleased to see that Ultimate Thor has ignored his warnings to drop this investigation, one which seems to have huge implications for the Thors and Battleworld as a whole. "Good," the former God of Thunder grumbles, "Maybe now we can get some work done."
This story has worked well on its face: a well-executed procedural that pokes fun at those inherent tropes while also embracing them and working on their level. But what I’ve enjoyed the most is how it has casually dropped references to both the preexisting 616 continuity and also the overarching machinations of false God Doom and his Battleworld. Whereas so many of the SECRET WARS books have shied away entirely from continuity and/or the larger event (RENEW YOUR VOWS, ARMOR WARS, 2099), or only teased at tying into the main SECRET WARS storyline without having any impact in the end (FUTURE IMPERFECT), this book seems to effortlessly acknowledge the ongoing plot threads from the recent in-continuity Thor books and the overarching plot of the main SECRET WARS title, all while still telling its own story.
Visually, pencilers Chris Sprouse & Goran Sudzuka do a great job, particularly using myriad facial expressions to convey the complex emotions at work during that great interrogation scene. Coupled with a Jason Aaron who remains at the top of his game even while taking back seat to Hickman and his years-in-the-making-event, well, that's how you make a hit book. I can't wait for the next issue of this one, and it’s worth any of you checking out if you haven't done so yet.
In stores this week!HEAD LOPPER #1
Writer, Artist: Andrew MacLeanColorist (Parts 1 and 2): Mike Spicer
Published by Image Comics
Reviewed by Johnny Destructo
I've found a new favorite, and his name is Andrew MacLean. Without having read any of his works, I first noticed his impressively clean style on a popular social medium. I'd see him posting WiP pics of a big ol’ bearded fella luggin' around a lady-head for some reason, and some other pics of a rifle carryin' gal in some sort of foresty future. I had no idea what either of them were about, but after reading both stories, I'm proud to say I'm a huge fan. I don't have a big foam finger with his face on it, but still. I like his stuff, is what I'm saying.
This issue is 1 of 4 so far. It's a "Quarterly Adventure Comic", and for some of you, you're probably starting to tune out. That is a long wait for single issues, but this issue is basically the size of 3 regular issues, and it's only $5.99. So what we have here is the ongoing adventures of the Son of The Minotaur, The Executioner…HEAD LOPPER. But apparently we can just call him Norgal. He has been summoned to Castlebay, on the Isle of Barra, to strike down an overgrown evil that the town has been dealing with for quite a while, and guess what he does! Guess! No, he doesn't buy it an Egg McMuffin, He lops off his head. God, you idiot. It starts off very simplistic in the storytelling, but quickly starts adding fun layers and subplots. Oh, and did I mention he carries around with him the head of a cackling witch? Yeah, it's pretty rad.
The thing that really drew me to his stories, no pun intended, is MacLean's art. Think Mignola without all the shadow abuse. Details are sparse, but not lacking. Excellent compositional structuring, silhouettes where appropriate, but not used as a crutch. Everything seems to be built on loose, energetic linework, but with the solidity and weight needed to ground everything within his reality.
I'd like to ramble on more about this series, but the joy is in the discovery. Go discover some joy!
JD can be found running his own comic shop in Manayunk, PA called Johnny Destructo's HERO COMPLEX, hosting the PopTards Podcast, discussing movies, comics and other flimflam over here, graphically designing/illustrating/inking, and Booking his Face off herehere. Follow his twitter @poptardsgo. His talkback name is JohnnyDestructo
DEEP SOUL ORIGINAL GRAPHIC NOVEL
Writer: A.J. LiebermanArtist: Tom Rhodes
Publisher: Doppelganger Publishing Inc.
Reviewer: Humphrey Lee
I am admittedly a big softy when it comes to two kinds of very “human experience” stories: Those of a timeless love thrust asunder due to some unfortunate circumstance and those featuring some technological slant delving into the human essence. Both are designed to ask us, to varying degrees, what makes us more than just animals, or hell, question if we’re really just a bag of meat that just happens to have a little bit of awareness about the situation. Each of those story types inevitably dig into how deep our humanity goes when it comes to our exploring ourselves and our relationships, either through those relationships or the technology. And in the odd occasion, like DEEP SOUL here, sometimes those stories bring these two plot devices together for a full rollercoaster ride of dissecting how our lives comes together and cohabitate and how we manipulate ourselves and each other via the toys we create.
DEEP SOUL is a project that combines one man’s drive to dig deeper into the human pool of consciousness into a more sudden crusade to save what is left of his wife and her psyche. Doctor Jacob Penn is a neurobiologist working on a device that taps into those depths, in this particular case pushing back down into our biological history and pulling those experiences out and implanting them into the user’s actual memory. For you video gamers out there, think the Animus chair from the “Assassin’s Creed” series and you’ll have the rough gist, though from my understanding the Animus chair is more a replication of those ancestral events while Penn’s chair is actually plunging what he calls the “Deep Soul” (aha!) into those actual experiences to be integrated into the recipient’s memory catalog like they happened last Thursday. It’s an interesting machine and a premise point and it’s a damn good thing he’s genius enough to have invented it, because one terrible day, his wife goes off a snowy bridge into a very cold river and, well…
Four months later Jake is doing everything he can to keep his wife, Tristan, alive and pushing his technology to bring her back. This includes funding his underground endeavors by running some moneyed individuals with more dollars than thrills left to conquer in their lives so Jake sets them up with adventures they could never have dreamed of ripped from their own ancient histories. This is the first domino in a series of pretty unexpected twists and turns as Jake and his partner and attempted voice of reason, Patel, race to pull Tristan back out of the primordial pool of human memory concentrate that Jake feels she has been sinking in ever since her body shut her down. I won’t really go much further than that for the sake of, y’know, not outlining the entire graphic novel, but it does not develop quite like I would have expected, and in a good way. Lieberman could have leaned on smatterings of techno babble and pure, unadulterated emotional cotton candy of “love will conquer all!!” to overcome this shit taco of a situation in which Jacob and Tristan are on the receiving end. What DEEP SOUL presents is a much more pragmatic adventure than you would expect, with just enough postulating on the metaphysical to keep you guessing just if and how Jacob will pull off the recovery of his wife and what the ramifications of that success would even look like.
That last line is essentially why this GN works very well when it does work; the big stakes are apparent from the get go, but the journey to overcome them is very surprising and filled with intrigue. How Jake and Patel find the money to pay for the continued research as they go underground is a process that puts them on the radar of the type of people that you would expect to abuse any new technology such as this. It is also an opportunity to show just what can go wrong with the machine, and the effect that going so deep into the memory pool can take a human mind and lose it, making the grim situation facing Tristan’s particular set of stored electrochemical impulses that are hanging out in the Aether that much more apparent. The surprisingly smooth and introspective way these plot devices flow into each other creates a nice backbone to the heart of the matter, with just enough brainy matter to give DEEP SOUL an almost fully functional body of emotional science fiction, though it does somewhat stub its toes in one regard.
As much as I appreciate the rather grounded approach to a pretty heady subject matter of “we’re a primordial soup of memories and experiences since time immemmorial” that Lieberman and Rhodes present us with, I did happen to feel from time to time that we were getting a little bit of a short shrift with plot developments. The problem, as it were, is that the rate of developments (and sometimes characters) tends to come and go rather quickly. For example, about a fifth of the way into the OGN we add a world class up and comer of chemistry named Rob to help the endeavor by aiding Jacob and Patel in developing a chemical cocktail that will help the Deep Soul process to awaken Tristan. For several pages he’s there as a set of fresh eyes and, honestly, mostly a crash course on what exactly the problem is pulling her out and how the machine roughly works dipping into the human subconscious. And then we kind of never see him again. And it’s not like the character did not serve a point or a perspective or was super interesting as a more wonder-filled personality to balance the dourness Jacob and his mental state influences on the book, but there was a dedicated effort for several pages that culminated in him fading quicker than one would think, and this happens a couple of times throughout the book. It’s not so much that some of these characters and ideas introduced in DEEP SOUL aren’t given enough voice and space to make an impact--it’s just that that impact sometimes is quick and moves onto the next idea as this saga plays out. The content quality is not in question, but there are several times the plots playing out felt very abrupt, like this GN could have been an easy twenty pages longer and benefitted greatly just by fleshing out some character motivations and/or interactions.
Regardless of this perceived flaw, DEEP SOUL pushes to market itself as a brain-exploring, underground sciencing love adventure and it succeeds quite well at this endeavor. It also succeeds with top marks at being FUCKING GORGEOUS and having Tom Rhodes’ art highlight the experience. Not only does DEEP SOUL push to be all those things I mentioned, but it really tries to encapsulate the raw emotion of the human experience or just the primal rush and breathtaking nature of life and new experiences, and Rhodes renders the shit out of this. There are some sequences of end user experience inside the Deep Soul machine, and people living out past adventures as a swashbuckling pirate or getting their Viking on, and they are beyond gorgeous. It’s exuberant art for an engaging if tiny bit flawed piece of emotional, metaphysical fiction that never quite ends up where you would expect, for (mostly) better or worse. DEEP SOUL might not always plumb the depths of life’s greatest mysteries like similar works would dedicate themselves to, but it does showcase the breadth of human emotion and the willingness to do whatever we will for our loved ones and spins itself a very nice yarn that spans the ages in its own resonant way.
Humphrey Lee has been an avid comic book reader going on fifteen years now and a contributor to Ain't It Cool comics for quite a few as well. In fact, reading comics is about all he does in his free time and where all the money from his day job wages goes to - funding his comic book habit so he can talk about them to you, our loyal readers (lucky you). He's a bit of a social networking whore, so you can find him all over the Interwebs on sites like Twitter, The MySpaces, Facebookand a blog where he also mostly talks about comics with his free time because he hasn't the slightest semblance of a life. Sad but true, and he gladly encourages you to add, read, and comment as you will.
DAREDEVIL #18
Writer: Mark WaidArtist: Chris Samnee
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Reviewer: Masked Man
Well, the party’s over, people. The iconic run of Waid and Samnee on DAREDEVIL has come to an end. And while I wished for a little more, it wrapped up well.
Let me start with the negatives, if I can really call them that. One, as the cover suggests, I figured this story was going to wrap up in the pages of Matt Murdock's biography, which he (or rather Foggy) was writing for his girlfriend's publisher father. I was interested to see how many plotlines Waid could pull together in this farewell performance of DD, but was disappointed to see it was barely touched on. Two, the final face-off with the Kingpin: after a great buildup in issue #17, the showdown played out rather typically. Not bad, but Waid has done better with DD, especially considering the all the crazy, multifaceted $hit Waid would throw at him. I also thought we'd get something a little more groundbreaking, and a little more anything goes, as this is the end of Daredevil (and the Marvel U) as we know him. But maybe he was rushed to get this final issue out.
On the good side, the book delivers what it always has: frick'n solid superhero adventure. Daredevil's world is once again in shambles, and he has to make daring gambles to save everyone involved. With an ever-popular bloody punch-up with the Kingpin (which Waid some how managed to avoid in his 54 plus issue run), the ever-unpredictable Shroud finally gets what he deserves. And there's still time for the characters to talk to each other like we wish everyone would talk to us: human and honest--something that has been a staple of Waid's run as well.
I've been saying Waid's run a lot, though not as a disservice to Samnee, even though he did get here late. Chris Samnee didn't get on DAREDEVIL until basically a year after Waid started it. To his credit, Paolo Rivera started the art style of deceptively simple yet very creative and advanced layouts. Samnee was a good fit for that look, and he ran with it when given the chance, and to his credit, his artwork improved greatly as the series continued, which you can see in this issue: simple yet very clever and impactful. A perfect match of the script.
Reviewing several DAREDEVIL issues during this run, I always fall back on saying the same things about it: it's basic, it's clever, has heart, and it's a pleasure to read. No one's going to make a movie or TV show off this run, because Hollywood isn't interest in good solid adventure. They want pop, grit and hip/rad/extreme modern takes on superheroes. Thankfully, Waid and Samnee didn't makes that kind of a superhero book. They will be missed.
In stores today!MIRROR’S EDGE: EXORDIUM #1
Writer: Christofer EmgardArtist: Mattias Haggstrom, Robert Sammelin
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Reviewer: Lyzard
MIRROR’S EDGE would never have crossed my mind as needing a comic book adaptation. While there is a story to the game, I hardly focused on Faith’s plight to help out her sister and rather was intent on not falling off of buildings. The artistic design of the game was fantastic, but not necessarily for its visual appeal--more for how the layout and use of color assisted the parkour mechanics.
The comic supposedly remains loyal to the game. EXORDIUM is a prequel to the upcoming MIRROR’S EDGE CATALYST, being released next year. The story, written by CATALYST’s writer Christofer Emgard, inhabits the world set by the original game. Faith Connors is a Runner, individuals who freelance as corporate spies and off-Grid couriers, using their parkour skills to traverse through the city nigh undetected. Though she is one of the fastest and most efficient Runners, Faith Connors’ attitude wears thin on her boss. After interfering with another gang’s affairs, Faith is offered the opportunity to join a new cabal that will respect her talents.
The comic throws you straight into this cyberpunk setting, and while there is a decent amount of exposition, much of the world goes on without explanation. If you haven’t played the game then you probably have no idea what being beatlinked means, though obviously you could pick up some of the meaning from context clues. Faith’s backstory, in particular her family’s, is also delivered in a shorthanded fashion. Character names are thrown at you left and right, terminology specific to MIRROR’S EDGE spat out sans translation. The core audience, based upon the writing alone, appears to be MIRROR’S EDGE fans.
But why would fans of the game want to read about the adventures of Faith Connors when they can just play it instead? It was controversial enough when the game decided to use animated sequences for its cut scenes, and that is what EXORDIUM feels like: one very long cut scene that pressing X won’t get you out of.
It’s a bit of a shame, because artists Mattias Haggstrom and Robert Sammelin really do capture the look of MIRROR’S EDGE. The minimalism, both in lack of detail and color, stays true to the aesthetic of the game. The racing sequences feel fast by breaking up the action into multiple panels, but lose the excitement of watching yourself nearly fall by way of first-person point of view.
EXORDIUM may look like MIRROR’S EDGE and sound, dialogue-wise, like MIRROR’S EDGE, but is it really MIRROR’S EDGE? Replace Faith and some of the terminology and you’ve got yourself a pretty decent cyberpunk story, but this comic is intent on being part of the MIRROR’S EDGE universe and appealing to the fan base. I’m desperate for the sequel to MIRROR’S EDGE, but not for a continuation in paper form.
Lyzard is Lyz Reblin, a graduate student at the University of Texas pursuing a master's degree in Media Studies... which is just a fancy way of saying she plays a lot video games, watches far too many horror films, and then tries to pass it all off as "research."
SECRET WARS BATTLE-WORLD TRAVEL GUIDE Part XV
orCareful what wish for, it might try to drown/beat you to death!
By Henry Higgins is My Homeboy
Previously, on SECRET WARS…Elsa Bloodstone shot a LOT of zombies in the head, Beast got murdered a few dozen times, and Karl Kauffman continues to be a complete tool.
SQUADRON SINISTER #3 (Marc Guggenheim & Carlos Pacheco)I don’t know what evil Marvel Batman is trying to pull, but I’m not sure he realizes what a Hyperion is. Because, and look, it’s cute that you’ve managed to get a couple other players off the board. But, woo hoo, you ARE in fact fighting an evil Superman.
FUTURE IMPERFECT #5 (Peter David & Greg Land)Maestro’s master plan to fistfight GodKingDoom comes to fruition, and wouldn’t you know it, it doesn’t turn out as planned. I don’t feel like I’m ruining this sector’s…let’s go with allure, by saying that no, a Hulk with a beard is not going to punch GodKingDoom to death. But what I won’t ruin are the little surprises here and there that make this city hellscape and hole in the ground surprisingly fun to visit.
Also, Rick Jones finally shows up, which I wasn’t expecting.
X-MEN ’92 #8 (Chad Bowers & Chris Sims, Scott Koblish)Generation X shows up! Ooooooooh shit! That’s great! Also, there’s a demonic force fighting against the combined might of the strongest telepaths in the world while Wolverine fights a giant robot but, seriously, Generation X! SKIN shows up! GodKingDoom wanted NOTHING to do with that, but here we are, with a Skin arriving at Xavier’s.
Goddamn, the 90s were weird.
AGE OF ULTRON VS. MARVEL ZOMBIES #4 (James Robinson & Steve Pugh)Wait, I’m confused...
I...wait...
Is it safe beyond The Wall now?
Robot guys did some stuff and then cowboy Wasp showed up and shot some zombies, and, look, some stuff happened beyond The Wall. Not necessarily bad stuff, but stuff. Just know this: Wonder Man was HEAVILY involved.
I mean, good job Wonder Man, seriously, but also, come on, you’re Wonder Man.
THORS #3 (Jason Aaron, Chris Sprouse & Goran Sudzuka)LAW & ORDER: DMT (Doom Meatshield Thors) is the weirdest world. It’s got the trappings of Thor, because of all the Thors, but it’s SUCH a cop procedural. Ultimate Thor takes newly found Loki into an interrogation room. With a two way mirror and everything! And then he interrogates Loki.
That is, in no way, what I was expecting from a world about the Thor police.
STAR-LORD & KITTY PRYDE #3 (Sam Humphries & Alti Firmansyah)Gambit continues to be a creep, and Star-Lord (who sorta kinda possibly is a survivor from the creation of Battleworld) continues to be fun as hell. He saves the day by getting a robot to swoon. It’s a cute adventure, and also, Drax runs around with a big ass hair cut. I don’t know why, but I love it.
HAIL HYDRA #2 (Rick Remender & Roland Boschi)Ian (who is also a survivor of the last reality, I think? I’m not sure) isn’t having a particularly good day. He’s been dropped into Zola World, where everything has gone wrong, and that’s before the army of Venoms shows up. Ian has to deal with a pissy Steve Rogers, an even pissier Sharon Carter, and also the totality of his nightmares come true. On the bright side…there is no bright side for Ian right now.
SILVER SURFER #14 (Dan Slott & Michael Allred)Silver Surfer and Dawn Greenwood continue to play God, but no one plays it as well as GodKingDoom. That means Surfer is being tempted to remake the world in his own image (thanks for the running commentary, obviously evil buddy whispering in their ears). This is all going down where the stars should be, and not even GodKingDoom knows about it. It’s also got The Shaper Of Worlds in it, and he’s a giant blue alien who’s also a space centaur, but instead of being half horse, he’s half tank.
If that sounds like something you want to check out, you should go check it out.
HOUSE OF M #2 (Dennis Hopeless & Cullen Bunn)This just in, this just in: an assassination attempt has just been made on Lord Magnus of the House of M sector, the culprits seem to be engaged in battle with him, as we speak, one of them came to the fight with a robot…seriously, with a robot arm? And also one of them shoots arrows, I repeat, arrows! Let’s go live to our man on the scene. Derek! Derek, you there?
Hi. I’m Derek Trimple and here in House of M world we’re OH MY GOD WHAT THE HELL IS THAZZZFKASUAIZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ...
That’s all from Derek, I think, and, well, alright. Good luck to House of M world.
SPIDER-ISLAND #3 (Christos Gage & Paco Diaz)The giant spider people are attacking, and that means someone is going to have to make the sacrifice play to save the day. And, huh. That was actually a very well done emotional scene, and it wasn’t even ruined by having Captain America be a werewolf.
AGE OF APOCALYPSE #3 (Fabian Nicieza & Gerado Sandoval)Oooooooooh, Apocalypse, you have any idea what you’ve done?
Proofs, co-edits & common sense provided by Sleazy G
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