Astonishing Ant-Man #8

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Story: Nick Spencer Art: Brent Schoonover Colors: Jordan Boyd

Review: Nick Spencer is excellent with witty dialogue, giving us likeable but definitely flawed characters. Astonishing Ant-Man has really kept the vibe from Superior Foes of Spider-Man, including now having the Beetle as supporting cast member. This issue we get some great henchman/bad guy dialogue, as well as a pretty hilarious fight sequence.  Brent Schoonover continues to show how much fun he is having drawing these characters, with Jordan Boyd’s colors making everything pop just right. Everything about the book is ridiculous and fun, and should remain on any readers pull list.

Score: B+

 

Old Man Logan #6

Story: Jeff Lemire Art: Andrea Sorrentino Colors: Marcelo Maiolo

Review: Jeff Lemire continues to give us old Wolverine. I mean that in every way possible, while it’s an alternate reality future version, everything about this Logan pretty much is the same as the Wolverine we’ve been reading for the longest time. The only real difference being his healing factor is slower, something the story keeps mentioning, but it doesn’t really seem to affect anything Logan does. This time around while looking to protect the younger version of his alternate future wife, Logan has inadvertently gained the attention of the cyborg mutant killing Reavers. Here’s the lesson: regardless when/where Logan is from just don’t be his friend. Now we gotta wait and see if this Older (still adamantium laced claws) Logan can take down the Reavers. Andrea Sorrentino and Marcelo Maiolo continue to give a moody atmosphere to the story, including giving life to a very dead, cold, and snow blanketed northern region.

Score: B-

 

International Iron Man #3

Story: Brian Michael Bendis Art: Alex Maleev Colors: Paul Mounts

Review: Tony is in a jam, as his hunt for his real parents has him at odds with a woman from his past. Somewhere in the LOST style flash backs of Tony’s slowly retconning youth; we will see the connection between Contessa and Tony’s true parentage. Bendis is doing a fine job keeping the story flowing, thanks a lot to the beautiful work by Maleev and Mounts (Bendis and Maleev are just a dynamic duo period), but a part of me just doesn’t care about who Tony’s real parents are. Also I’m not entirely sure when/where these events are taking place in conjunction to Invincible Iron Man, New Avengers (and the Pleasant Hills stuff) and the rest of the Marvel Universe. That aside, I’m continuing to go along for the ride to find out the truth to Tony’s parents and really hoping the payoff is worth the whole retcon of his history, and the investment in an entire series dedicated to revealing the truth.

Score: B

 

Squadron Supreme #7

Story: James Robinson Art: Leonard Kirk, Paolo Villanelli, Paul Neary, Marc Deering Colors: Frank Martin

Review: I have no idea where this book is going anymore. It started off so strong, with a cool premise-The Squad was going to be a more ruthless, hardcore Avengers! They would get revenge on the people who wronged them during Secret Wars (See: Taking off Namor’s head), they were gonna do whatever it took to bring justice and show up the Avengers. Then that didn’t happen. James Robinson sent us to Weirdworld, there was a betrayal, Dr. Spectrum took off on her own journey, and Nighthawk is doing his own thing. They are a team, but everyone is sort of just out on their own right now. The cover suggests this would be the Nighthawk vs Nighthawk issue, but it isn’t. Instead we get more debating between Dr. Spectrum and Toro (and old WW2 hero who was part of The Invaders with Capt. America and is now apparently an Inhuman) along with a silent but stern Black Bolt. There is a lot set up here with a ton of changes in art direction.  None of it is really bad, but the inking changes as does the body/facial expressions in the characters between pages. I really hope this book gets back on track or maybe this just isn’t the series for James Robinson.

Score: C+

 

All New Wolverine #8

Story: Tom Taylor Art: Marcio Takara Colors: Jordan Boyd

Review: Tom Taylor continues to make Laura (formerly X-23, now current Wolverine) a very likeable endearing character. She has flaws, she has issues, but she’s going to do her best by Gabby (a younger cloned version of Laura) and still remain the hero the people need. This time around SHIELD comes knocking onher door in need of help! With Taylor becoming more comfortable finding a voice for Laura, it helps that the series continues to have Marcio Takara on art duty! The book looks great, and reads much better than it did in the early issues before Takara hoped on. Combine that with the fantastic Jordan Boyd and this book continues to impress!

Score: B

 

Power Man & Iron Fist #4

Story: David F Walker Art: Sanford Greene Colors: Lee Louridge

Review: The not so dynamic team of Luke Cage (Powerman) and Danny Rand (Iron Fist) continue to get deeper into trouble, as now they need to find a way to depose their old office manager Jennie and stop her from destroying the city as well as killing mobster Tombstone! The jokes this time are a little bit less as the action is amped up to 11. Jennie is doing some major destruction possessed by the supersoul stone and it doesn’t look like anything can stop her. As each issue grows, so does Walker’s ability to find a way to bring the personalities of these characters out and show their depth. While he’s more of a goofball here than in his Immortal Iron Fist series, Danny is still a kickass fighter and knows when things are serious. Luke continues to be the bigger voice of reason as well as getting to display his power this issue. The fun part is seeing the mini backstory to Jennie and how it all fits together. Where will the two hombres go from here? Its anyone’s guess but I just want to keep series artist Sandford Greene on this book for as long as possible with Lee Louridge also sticking around for colors! It’s not every fan’s cup of tea, but I find them perfect for the story telling of Walker and this series.

Score: A