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The Pull List
(Click title to go directly to the review)
DOCTOR STRANGE Movie Review (2016)
Advance Review: SUGAR & SPIKE: METAHUMAN INVESTIGATIONS Vol.1
AVENGERS #1
LADY MECHANIKA: LA DAMA DE LA MUERTA #2
CHAMPIONS #2
MOON KNIGHT #8
Opinions Are Like @$$Holes: RED VS. BLUE!

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In theaters now!

DOCTOR STRANGE Motion Picture (2016)

Directed by Scott Derrickson
Starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Rachel McAdams, Tilda Swinton, Mads Mikkelsen, Chiwetel Ejiofor
Produced by Marvel Studios
Reviewed by Humphrey Lee

By the Hoary Hosts of Hoggoth, the next wave of Marvel products is upon us!! Or are we riding a current wave? So many bloody waves, I don’t know what the hell anymore, I just know that now we’re now firmly entrenched in the Marvel push on their properties that are far from household names into their movie verse and things are still looking pretty rosy overall. In this case we move on down the line to everyone’s favorite character that shows up all the time in premiere books they like though for some reason almost never holds onto his own series very long, Doctor Strange, the Sorcerer Supreme. And, as always, they are doing it with a measured approach that starts from the top down of finding a director with a vision that fits the character – in this case Scott Derrickson, he of the “Sinister” and “Exorcism of Emily Rose” fame – and by making talented and inspired casting decisions to bring the characters to life. The track record is obviously radiant at this point, now fourteen movies in (thirteen since Marvel itself actually did the production post-“Incredible Hulk”) and it’s to be assumed that Marvel’s output will always be at the least entertaining to a certain degree as long as their formula holds. Now, how long that magic equation of theirs will continue to enthrall audiences, that is a subject worth addressing while breaking down this movie, which was another fine production by the studio and all involved.

Every time one of these movies is going to come out from now on, featuring the C-tier characters of the Doctor Strange and Ant-Man like levels, there’s always going to be some rumblings of “oh, this time this will be the failure, there’s only so much you can do once you get past the big characters” about how successful the project will be, and that’s not the concern. The concern is that maybe eventually we all start watching the same movie over and over again. Or, maybe the concern is that we’ll realize have been watching the same thing repeatedly all along. I am going to preface the rest of this by saying that this movie is a blast and the casting is perfect and some of the special effects are the most unique things I’ve seen in a movie possibly ever, and those aspects of the film carry “Doctor Strange” to the point it may even be a top five in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to me, which is becoming a pretty coveted spot at this point in the line. But some of the aspects about this type of production are starting to show a little repetition in how they are presented, like the beats of the origin story and the type of humor injected into the scenery to keep some levity, and those may be items to be filed away for future reference. In the meantime, the movie itself was pretty much everything I wanted it to be for the character and from the creative people involved in it.

If you’re not familiar with Dr. Strange… actually, I’m not even sure if I should do the “cliff notes origin” part of these reviews because we’re on a comic book review page right? How many of you reading this don’t know that Dr. Stephen Strange, played by Benedict Cumberbatch, was a world renowned neurosurgeon with an ego to match his skill level but that literally loses it all when a car accident destroys the functionality of his hands and ends the career he cared about more than anything? And who doesn’t know that he then basically sells off his life as he knows it to the obsession of finding a place he hears about called Kamar-Taj where a former paralysis victim he passed about apparently regained the use of his legs there? And that he then struggles to swallow his selfishness and obsession and pride studying from a person known as the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton) to go from just trying to regain the use of his hands into becoming a defender of the Earth realm from a primordial dark entity known as Dormammu from entering the dimension to swallow all life as we know it thanks to some grunt work from a follower of his known as Kaecilius (Mads Mikkelsen) to weaken the barriers keeping him at bay? There’s really no reason to go over all of that again, you guys know the gist…

That is essentially the summary of the flick and, obviously, it sounds very familiar at this point, even if you’re not particularly well versed in the ways of the Strange one. Yeah, Kaecilius wasn’t much in the comics and now the Ancient One is now a “dainty” white lady instead of a Chinese man, much to the dismay of immovable purists everywhere, but this movie hits all the traditional origin notes of the character. And to say that the way it plays out in this live action form is more or less “Iron Man” but with the metaphysical is a little to exaggerated, but it does wear that shade enough to be apt. Arrogant rich guy on the top of the world gets brought back down to earth and becomes a bit more selfless, though Cumberbatch’s Strange sheds a lot more of his arrogance and than Robert Downey Junior’s Tony Stark as his trials progress and Strange sees more of the world for what it is and what is going beyond its boundaries. But in this case the protagonist journey is just as entertaining and spectacle filled as ever, mainly because, again, all the right people were on this project.

Despite the abject disbelief screaming throughout my brain at the lack of British accent, Cumberbatch is a great Stephen Strange. Channeling the smug, know-it-all attitude with the skill to justify it of his Sherlock Holmes into his Strange and adds just enough natural charisma to the character so that you still find him likeable. His early interaction with Rachel McAdams’ Christine Palmer character, who helps sell him as a man worth putting up with in her willingness to see past the arrogance and how she fully entrusts him. Admittedly, and this is something I’ll get to more in a minute when discussing the nitpicky flaws I had with the movie, her character and performance overall is kind of a waste in this film due to lack of screen time and not much of a role to play beyond helping to sell him as a flawed man at first and then to sell his downfall once tragedy takes his hands, but when she’s there she serves admirably. That’s not the last we see of her but for all intents and purposes, it may as well be, because once we follow Strange to Kamar-Taj, it becomes a three headed monster of performances between Cumberbatch, Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One, and Chiwetel Ejiofor as “What’s He Really a Baron Of?” Mordo.

I know the social justice warrior uproar du jour was to rag on the “whitewashing” of the Ancient One, and as someone who tends to pick up the SJW mantle from time to time (and will do so before this piece is over) I get being a little “what the shit?” about Swinton being cast as that centuries old master of the mystic arts. But her rendition of the character is excellent and the casting decision makes sense once you watch her slight figure do the remarkable. The regal yet unimposing posture she carries herself with helps sell the idea that there is tremendous power to be channeled from within if someone is dedicated enough, a notion that Strange fights with as his frustration over how tough it is and long it is taking for him to at least make his hands functional overwhelms him in the middle chunk of the film. Likewise, Ejiofor’s devoutness to the cause of defending the realm as Mordo helps push Strange down a path toward accepting something bigger than himself and finding some camaraderie in the order keeping Dormammu at bay. Unfortunately, much like with Rachel McAdams role of “missed opportunity that keeps him centered” and that does not have much development beside, Mikkelsen’s villainous turn does get mostly boiled down to a standard of wanting to see the universe burn because he looooves Nihilism but mostly feels lied to and slighted by the Ancient One. Yeah, he does well in the role and is imposing and discomforting as he always seems to channel when playing the villain, but he’s also unfortunately underused in this movie.

Not only do the performances that get real screen time shine and drive the film, but also the ramping up of the special effects as Strange starts to digest his new craft shows just how strong that production team is as well as Scott Derrickson’s direction. We get a glimpse of what brain twisting techniques the movie is going to use early on in a battle between Swinton’s Ancient One and Mikkelsen’s Kaecilius and his acolytes that involves all sorts of architectural manipulation as they bend city street to building and duel on walls while hurling magical bolts at each other. Once Strange starts to learn about the dimensions beyond the one he’s only known his life until now, Derrickson really starts to play like a kid in a sandbox littered with Tonka trucks, if those are even a thing people know about anymore (I assume the world just nods in recognition at the mention of things I had as a child three decades ago). There’s mirror universes that crack and bend around him, uses of portals and perspective shifts that always keep the brain on its toes and, yes, as all the commercials have shown there’s architectural manipulation on a scale that makes it look like “Inception” went seven layers deep and each one had increasingly better crystal meth. The overall formula of how these new characters are being brought to life may be getting overly familiar, but the visual styling of “Doctor Strange” really help put a stamp of uniqueness on this entry in the MCU.

There are tears in the magical flying cloak that is this movie, though, some of which I’ve already nodded at and have admitted rarely go past the nitpick mile post. Some of the talent – namely McAdams and Mikkelsen – are dreadfully underused for their skill levels. They and a decent bit of the plot development, which is not terribly intricate, basically come down to suffering to tell the origin story. Since Dr. Strange isn’t one of those household names, like a Batman, that you can’t just assume 99% of those taking a seat for it know the story, you have to go through the motions, and those motions are pretty similar but not. So while you have to have Stephen Strange lose everything and reemerge from the ashes a new man, like Tony Stark, like Scott Lang kind of hitting rock bottom with his daughter before getting a life changing opportunity as Ant-Man, etc. you really kind of wish they didn’t have to so that Derrickson and company could just get to the awesome Magic Fu in shifting hallways and folding cities. We’ve been here before, even though we haven’t really been here before, and this new variation of fighting evil forces is the breath of fresh air these super hero film products need, it’s just a shame we had to get a very necessary but still not any less rote origin story out of the way to get it for half a movie and an already eagerly awaited sequel.

And this is where I’m going to let a bit of my Social Justice Warrior out and say, as much as I love this character and am glad he got to the screen with a production crew of this quality, you can tell that the “white dude learns lesson, becomes selfless champion of good” formula is blending together, and it’s more than time for us to have these Black Panther and Captain Marvel projects we’re been waiting for. Just the perspective change alone of Dr. Strange being a mystical warrior instead of your standard fisticuffs and tights guys in the Avengers was enough to make this production exciting compared to its peers, much like Guardians of the Galaxy and the space opera it was a couple years ago, getting to something like a culturally rich and technologically advanced place like Wakanda could add a ton of flavor to this universe. Roll your eyes at any perceived hippie agenda you may think I’m trying to push - I’m sure you ranted about it at the polls yesterday – but the reason superheroes thrive in the comics in multitudes is their different perspectives. Some characters come with unique battlegrounds they do their work in, like the Doc here and his mystic plane, or the space guys, or they revel in their high Science Fiction nature like the Fantastic Four. And some thrive because they put social commentary first and foremost and they thrash their nemesis (which, surprise, usually embodies the ideology they are battling against) and we could use a bit more of that injected into the MCU right now alongside white dudes conquering their demons.

Regardless of that soapbox diversion and wrapping this up, “Doctor Strange” is still a success on many levels. The character of Strange is perfectly enacted by Cumberbatch, the remaining cast (that actually gets decent screen time) does their jobs very well, and Scott Derrickson’s use of the what his effects people can conjure up is one of the most stand alone features of any of these comic book properties. Hell, maybe of any motion picture I’ve seen period, genre be damned. And what I’ve criminally understated in this entire piece is just how entertaining the physical performances and character back and forth’s actually end up being. The best Dr. Strange stories always come from a place that is a little dry in the humor balanced with some cheesiness to kind of play off the absurdity and weirdness around the character. The worst stories go way too dry or way too cheesy and end up being too boring and/or foolish. There’s a great balance of humor in this to match the trippiness of the visuals and metaphysical plot, stemming from reveling in the disbelief of Cumberbatch or jokes that come from or at the expense of his arrogance and ignorance, and sometimes it even goes straight slapstick, to varying degrees of success. “Dr. Strange” floats down familiar paths with enough of its own flourishes that you easily wave off the formulaic aspects of it all, and when it firmly embraces the figments of the character that make him so cool and different, it really hums. It’s not necessarily a game changer of a property as far as its effects on the Marvel Cinematic Universe will go, but it does a exert a ton of effort in regards to expanding perceptions on how these characters can be approached and showing audiences different playgrounds they can frolic within. And it also just happens to be a highly entertaining, well-acted, visually unique feast of a movie that is very faithful to its source material, and all that stuff helps a bit, I imagine, in making audiences eager for more.

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.

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In stores today!

SUGAR & SPIKE: METAHUMAN INVESTIGATIONS Vol.1

Writer: Keith Giffen
Artist: Bilquis Evely
Publisher: DC Comics
Reviewer: Rob Patey (Reviewer formerly known as Optimous Douche, till the man got him)

SUGAR & SPIKE is everything nice about honoring the innocence of comic lore gone by, while tantalizing the cynical sensibilities of modern readers. This oversized tome follows 6 silver age silliness heroic missteps of yore without ever assailing the character of past writers and readers who once imbibed these tales with glee. It’s an achievement in reverence, while allowing for the appropriate reviling in the form of our two continuity beleaguered investigators.

Few will remember Sugar and Spike’s origins as precocious 1950s toddlers that could only understand one another’s baby babble (along with the reader of course). Together they solved “mysteries” of child-like proportions, all unbeknownst to the doddering moms and dads around them. Cute fair that was cut short due to creator Sheldon Mayer’s failing eyesight and faltering pencil lines. More of us will remember the adult versions of these two in the LEGENDS OF TOMORROW maxis that came out this past year. In these tales of our favorite super heroes trying to cover up the mistakes of their past this new series was born.

SUGAR & SPIKE strays from direct jabs at the likes of Wonder Woman, Batman, Green Lantern and more, by making them the victims as opposed to the perpetrators of scientific and scene crafting stupidity. Each silver age contrivance that SUGAR & SPIKE investigates offers immediate absolution for the spandex suit set because they are victims of foul play. (I’m going to sound like a South Park member-berry here so forgive me) Remember when Batman would have a silly suit for every occasion? Remember when Wonder Woman almost married a shape shifting alien that looked a Skrull had gotten loose in the DCU? Remember when Hal Jordan’s partner for a time was a sentient corsage? No? Well that means you grew up in the dark age of comics, like yours truly However, ignoring those times while imbibing the pureness of old heroic sensibilities is a paradox no reboot has yet to correct.

The answer is simple; allow the spot on sarcasm of Keith Giffen to flow through the mouths of tough-gal Sugar and meek-man Spike. Batman’s suits are stolen by Killer Moth as, well....sustenance. The grossed out reactions of SUGAR & SPIKE to a man eating another man/s outer underwear made me completely forget they were essentially covering up a decade long fashion faux pas. Wonder Woman marrying leagues below her hotness is covered up by the fact her former beau is now a document forger, and merely a glory hound to get time on TMZ. Green Lantern’s former friendly partner corsage is wrapped around a tale of alien parentage and true unyielding friendship. Only Superman ends up looking truly idiotic, because let’s face facts, hiding Kryptonite an island that he terra-formed into his own visage is pretty idiotic. Only Spike calls this out though, because again let’s face facts, hotness gets a pass in today’s world as much as in the past. The tongue out tale turns though when Spike gives Wonder Woman an equal pass in her story merely because her hair is so well suited to her...face.

In the hands of a lesser writer our heroes would all get a dunce cap, while SUGAR & SPIKE would simply be dickish know-it-alls. However, Giffen is the master of irreverence since way back to my youth in the 80s. The difference between Giffen and say a Comedy Central roast though is the ever balance of heart with the heave-ho of feelings. Through every mini-adventure we also see a blossoming of the dynamic between Sugar and Spike. We see the longing both have for one another, but also how it will remain unrequited as they try to build this meta-human investigator business to something worthy of no longer being based in the basement of a Somerville, NJ row home. In a tale with the Flash nemesis particularly good at computers we see how this investigation business began, but more importantly why the two value one another. In another tale with the Legion of Super Heroes (both old school and with periods after each letter of L.E.G.I.O.N) we see how both can tell time is passing far too quickly.

To say I recommend SUGAR & SPIKE is an understatement. My fervor for Giffen’s words combined with Evely’s ability to infuse silver age concepts with modern age detail has broken a many months long review hiatus. To review, one must feel. SUGAR & SPIKE awakened my childlike passion for the hobby while plucking every one of the logic strings and heart chords of adulthood. I’d be hard pressed to meet any fan boys or fan gals who can say otherwise. SUGAR & SPIKE is a perfect encapsulation of the continuity that makes comics great without getting bogged down by it.

You can pick up this comic at TFAW by clicking this link!

Rob works for IBM when he puts down comic books. IBM.com if you want to see his other world.

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AVENGERS #1

Writer: Mark Waid
Artist: Mike Del Mundo
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Reviewer: Masked Man

Well let's see, it's been about over a year, time to cancel and relaunch the AVENGERS! Oui Marvel, and oui readers who taught Marvel we only buy #1 issues.

With this latest AVENGERS series, veteran writer Mark Waid is still in control (well as much as the editors will let the writer). Waid had an interesting start to the last series, but then jammed it in neutral. So much so, I almost didn't even buy this issue. But giving it a try, I see Waid is continuing with plotlines he set-up in the last series. But now he's evolving them more and into something really interesting.

Spoiler time, so in the last series, the Vision was trying to rework his being. This was also covered in his own monthly series. Here in AVENGERS, Kang got involved and f'd with the Vision good. Now with a mad on, the Vision time travels and snatches baby Kang from his crib. On to this issue, Kang is not pleased one bit and joins his past self (don't ask, don't ask- if you don't understand just wikipedia Kang), the Scarlet Centurion to kick some Avenger @$$ (and get the baby back). The Avengers have no idea what is going on and are not too pleased with the Vision when they find out! Then Kang figures turn about is fair play, and he does what every kid thinks a time traveling villains should do first: Kills all the Avengers when they were kids! Note: Kang has a new ability to prevent time paradoxes caused by his actions.

So yeah not bad, not bad. On the set-up side, Hercules is now on the teams, with a big laser rifle (uh, ookay). And with Tony Stark dead or about to be dead, depending on whether or not the right issue CIVIL WAR II came out, Peter (now billionaire) Parker has stepped up as the Avengers sponsor. On the tonal side, I did feel like the issue was a bit too quip crazy. The Avengers seem to be cracking some kind of joke on every page. Just didn't seem to fit, and the amount of them undermined the few good ones.

With the art, this is the first time I'm seeing Mike Del Mundo's work. Though, I believe he is mostly known for covers, opposed to interior art. On one hand I like it. It's very engrossing and has a nice painterly style to it. On the other hand, it's kinda weird and undeveloped at times. And he has this wiggle white line running through a lot of figures. I'm not sure what the line is there for, beside to look odd. Also the Frost wolf is huge(!) on page the two page spread, then some how he fits over Hercules' shoulder!? Overall, it's impressive work and the good out weights the odd.

So again, I guess, another decent kick off to an AVENGERS series by Mark Waid. Hopefully, this one will stay on track and finish well too.

You can pick up this comic at TFAW by clicking this link!

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LADY MECHANIKA: LA DAMA DE LA MUERTE #2

Writers: Joe Benitez and M.M. Chen
Artists: Joe Benitez and Martin Montiel
Publisher: Benitez Productions
Reviewer: Masked Man

Despite having no real love (or hate mind you) for steampunk, I've grown quite attached to the adventures of Lady Mechanika. Mainly because Mechanika is just an excellent adventure book. Any and every adventure fan should give this book try. As for this specific issue, Lady Mechanika is in Mexico during the Day of the Dead and the words holy #@(k! come to mind.

To get into the spoilers, Lady Mechanika, doing some soul searching whines up in a small Mexican town. After getting well acquainted with the towns folk, the Day of the Dead festival starts. Then the trouble starts as Mechanika learns a group of ghost riders have been preying on the town and others in the area. In fact, a poor little boy gets so seriously messed up that Mechanika is hell bent on justice. When she meets up with the ghost riders, she goes all 'stranger with no name' on them. Just when it seems like everything is going by the book, you turn a page and holy #@(k! I mean holy #@(k! I did not see that coming- holy #@(k! That's all I can say, because this shouldn't be spoiled.

So seriously, this is a great issue. As you probably know, at the end of the year we do the typical 'best of the year awards' the @sseies. For myself, as the months go by I try to tick off categories so I'm not scrambling come award time. So far I've been having a hard time picking the best single issue of 2016- well not anymore, holy #@(k. Benitez and Chen bagged a whooper in this issue. The bad @$$ stuff in this issue is very bad @$$. Benitez's artworks are as impressive as always. His drawings of bad @$$ Lady Mechanika in this issue are very bad @$$ indeed. And while the basic plot is very typical cowboy movie, there is the holy #@(k moment. As I didn't even see it coming, I have no idea where Benitez and Chen are taking it from here.

So if you've been missing some holy #@(k in your comic books, get this issue. I'll give a word of warning that I might be over selling it. I don't want this to be like the movie everyone and their grandma told you was frick'n epic, and then when you finally see it are so not impressed. So don't expect some kind of religious experience or something that will change comicbooks forever. Just go in with an open mind and enjoy the adventure- then you will receive your holy #@(k.

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CHAMPIONS #2

Writer: Mark Waid
Artist: Humberto Ramos
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Reviewer: Masked Man

After the lackluster first issue, I wasn't sure I would try another issue, but they were giving out cut-out figure stands, so how bad could it be? Well I'm glad I gave it another shot, because Waid did a good job fleshing this new team out.

Now this issue is all decompression. The whole thing is about only two hours long, as the Champions go on a team building camping trip. And I can safely say there is nothing to spoil in this issue, because truly nothing happens. So, kudos to Waid for keeping it from being a total bore. As this time out, day in the life issue is filled with good character interaction. Everyone comes across as reasonably likeable, and Waid breaks down how they will work together as a team. Nova (Sam) and Spider-Man (Miles) are the boys. You can count on them, but their minds will wander and they are always looking for something else to get into. Viv is the creepy outsider kid. She's open and earnest, but you never know what she is thinking, and she just might murder you in your sleep. Hulk (Amadeus) is the wild man. While sure he's a genius, but he just uses that as an excuse to go off the reservation- because “he knows what he's doing and hey it's under control”. Ms. Marvel (Kamala), much to her chagrin is the mother hen. The Champions were her idea, so she's the leader and the wet blanket. Lastly, there is teenager from the past Cyclops. He shows up to join the group and after the typical fight, he does. Waid has the least amount of time with him, so he's not too defined yet.

Artwise, Ramos still hasn't won me over. His storytelling is much better in this issue, but his graffiti like figures are just too unappealing to me. Though I'm sure some people love it. I did think colorist Edgar Delgado a superior job. All the campfire and forest settings looked great.

Where this issue works the best is with it's matter a fact view of teenagers and how teenagers view the adult world. I really like how they pulled no punches with their world view, in a meta way mocking stuff Marvel Comics is doing. “There are two Captain America's so why can't Kamala be a third one?” “How can we judge teenage Cyclops based on adult Cyclops, didn't we all just fight a civil war over that!?” Spot on Mark! Though while they are not as self-absorbed as adults might think, they are still frivolous. Everyone gets a little nutty of kissing. If Waid can keep this up and add some good action, MILLENNIALS, er CHAMPIONS could be a really good book.

You can pick up this comic at TFAW by clicking this link!

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MOON KNIGHT #8

Writer: Jeff Lemire
Artists: Francesco Francavilla, Wilfredo Torres, James Stokoe and Greg Smallwood
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Reviewer: Masked Man

Fan fav Jeff Lemire just continues to impress on MOON KNIGHT here. At the moment when you think things are getting formula or cliché, he kicks it up a notch.

Case in point, this latest storyarc “Incarnations” (which really isn't a storyarc, as it's been the same story since issue #1), Marvel got three different artists to draw three different revisions of Moon Knight. This was very cool, but as we entered the third issue of it I was starting to feel tired of it. Lemire must have sensed this because he took the storytelling to a break neck speed and sent it crashing into a wall.

Need some spoilers? Well Moon Knight cab driver Jake Lockley has been arrested for killing his friends. Something he didn't do of course, but as the police start to unravel his life he starts to freak. Meanwhile, Moon Knight movie producer Steven Grant is having visions of Lockley's life and is starting to lose control of his. Things get worst when he starts having visions of Moon Knight space pilot Marc Spector. All three of them then start to lose their sense of reality until they come face-to-face with Moon Knight recent suicide Marc Spector.

So this was a very manic issue, which pulls the plug a on fun storytelling technique, that was starting to wear out it's welcome. Lemire is just really into playing mind games with poor Moon Knight here. Thankfully, he's not trying to play mind games with us. I don't know about you, but I hate the guess the reality type stories. Because you often can't guess, because the writer is just yanking your chain. Then they pull some nonsenical cr@p out of their @$$ for the surprise ending- didn't see that coming did ya (f' you, I say). So, I'm very glad Lemire is just torturing Moon Knight, not us. Mind you, we readers still have no idea what is going on, it's just not as important as the experience of it all- at this point.

The art in this issue is just great. To be honest, I'm not even that big of a fan of Francavilla (it's a bit too outsider art to me), but as he works one reality of the story, it works great. Torres and especially Stokoe's pages are much more exciting. Then Smallwood's one single page is as elegant and as awesome as his covers.

Overall, I think Marvel is bungling it a lot with their A-listers these days. But they are killing it with the B and C-listers. MOON KNIGHT is a fine example of this. It's the superhero book that is something different.

You can pick up this comic at TFAW by clicking this link!

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