Thursday, May 8, 2014

Comic Adventures Issue #10


I read a lot of comics and rarely review them here on the blog. That's because I really don't have a lot to say for an entire post.  So I thought I would review several comics on one post.  I will still review graphic novels on their own now and then, but this is where I will talk about super-hero type comics (DC/Marvel) or sequels to some that I have already reviewed.

This issue we talk about Superman Vol 3 Fury at World's End, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by Alan Moore,    Age of Ultron Marvel, and Kingdom Come DC.

I myself enjoyed volume 3 of the Superman DC New 52 though most of the reviews I have read other people did not like it. The beginning was a little confusing.  Once I picked up where the story was going I was fine.  I liked that the comic included Superboy and the Justice League.. even a little Lex Luther.  I do think you should read Supergirl Vol 1 before reading this comic.  Though I suppose it is easy to pick up that she has entered Earth and is confused about being here. I like the parts where we see Superman at the Daily Planet and hanging out with Jimmy Olsen (his new roommate).  Those parts are fun.  4 out of 5








I have bee wanting to read The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by Alan Moore for a long long time.  First off I loved Watchmen also written by Alan Moore.  So I knew he was a good writer.  Plus the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen has a lot of literary characters in it.  Allan Quatermain, Mina Murray, Captain Nemo, Dr. Henry Jekyll and Edward Hyde and Hawley Griffin ( the Invisible Man) are all in this volume.  The art work is even more amazing! I love all the detail in the pages and the "old" look the colors give the comic.  Really this is a great and impressive comic! 5 out of 5









Let's be honest. I haven't read a lot of Marvel. But I do love Marvel movies. So when I found out that the next Avengers movie was going to be called Age of Ultron I had to go and pick up that comic. My library had the whole volume and I read it in one sitting. SNORE. What? Whedon says he is going to give Ultron a new story and let's hope he doesn't follow this comic AT ALL. The book starts off with Ultron pretty much destroying the Avengers and the World. The Avengers here of course aren't the same team we see in the movie.  It is a much larger team consisting of many different heroes (including Spiderman, Fantastic Four, etc).  I also didn't feel like the series really came to a close.  What exactly happens to Ultron.  Plus we have a few comics just thrown in here that seem pointless to the story arc.  Plus Wolverine is who most of this series is about.  WOLVERINE??  While I like Wolverine I just didn't like him in this at all.  2 out of 5 
I picked up Kingdom Come by DC from the Interlibrary Loan from my library.  I hadn't heard of this comic before because it was published in 1997 and back then I didn't read comics.  Apparently this comic is top notch in the comic world so I was happy to jump in and read it.  I have seen the art before (which I love)... Alex Ross is well known for his superhero art.   I did think it was a little confusing at the beginning.  Once I caught onto the story though it took off. The story is very deep.  It really tells us what would happen if superheros did become gods among us. The story takes place in the future so all the superheros have aged.  We seen an old Batman and Superman. Superman has retired and gone into hiding along with the rest of the Justice League. Eventually Superman sees what has happened to the world and comes back to help. The meta-humans have taken the laws into their owns hands.  Disregarding humans and human laws.  Lex Luther and the humans are trying to step in and fix it, give the power back to humans.  The ending of the comic is so wonderful.  One of the best endings ever.  Three superheroes meet up in a cafe and have a wonderful chat with each other.  I think this is a typical superhero story.  All is lost and everyone goes in to save the day.  This story did have a little more to it though.  It reminded me a little of The Watchman when the question is asked "Who Watches the Watchmen".  In Kingdom come we must decide who was at fault—the renegade super heroes with their lack of respect for life or society for picking that style of heroism over the old style that was Superman's?  This comic has a lot more deeper meanings then a lot of the superhero comics I've read before.  I really am glad that I found out about it and read it.  It is no wonder people love it and it is well known in the comic book world.   5 out of 5


 

Well that's it for comics this time around... can't wait to read what comics come into the library next!!

I am now up to 42 books towards my Graphic Novel Reading Challenge!

Bout of Books

15 comments:

  1. shootingstarsmagMay 8, 2014 at 7:10 PM

    I've never heard of Kingdom Come. It sounds like a great one; I'll have to keep an eye out for it. I also really want to read The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. I'm lucky that my library has both; I just need to find a good time to grab them!

    Lauren from www.shootingstarsmag.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. Really I think readers would like The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen since some of the characters are from books. That one was so fun and really impressed me.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love that you included some panels, did you get permission or did you just find them somewhere? I dont normally read super hero ones.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I did not get permission.. but I think since it's from the book it counts as "fair use" or used without permission for the benefit of the public. I have no idea why this is in bold now. I think I am allowed to post them. I have tried to be really careful about the images I post ...I get so paranoid. Plus Alan Moore would be impossible to get a hold of! LOL! He is the writer of Watchmen too. I like to include panels in the graphic novels/comics that I love so that others can enjoy the artwork inside too.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh, so glad you liked Kingdom Come and "The League". Both of those have been on my tbr forever! I love both those authors! As to using images, it's the same as quoting from the text, you're allowed to use them in a review. In fact it's often encouraged; if you do advance reviews, the pubs/authors often send you a package of text/images to include.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Glad to hear you enjoyed League of Extraordinary Gentlemen! Pt. 2 of that (the war of the worlds one) is even better.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love Kingdom Come!!! I bought the 4 issues when they came out in 97 and it is still one of the best stories I've read. I bout the Absolute edition a few years ago and it is even better with all the extra art sketches and stuff. So glad you enjoyed this. Alex Ross is amazing and I think this is his finest work.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love the concept of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, but have never read it. I should do that... I'm intrigued about Nemo being on the team, always liked that character, and the pic with the Invisible Man sitting there is funny! As for Ultron, I've heard it was really bad so didn't bother. To be honest, as good as the Marvel movies have been a lot of Marvel's comics these days have been pretty bad...I've been having trouble finding ones I like...

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thank you!! I actually started looking that up tonight to see if it was allowed and everywhere I looked it says it is. I wish I would've checked your comment first instead of looking everywhere. I was paranoid and started googling everything! I thought it would be OK since I am trying to show readers the great artwork!!!

    ReplyDelete
  10. That one just came into the library and I pick it up tomorrow!! I am loving that series.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Kingdom Come blew me away. It was unlike anything I had read (so far) in comics and was so grown up. I mean ... it dealt with big issues and took them serious. I think that is the issue I read? It was on loan from another library since mine didn't have it and I turned it in a while ago so I don't remember which edition I had. Well the cover posted above is the one I had. I am so glad I found out about that comic!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I did a lot of googling tonight and I read you are allowed to post pictures from inside a book. I usually take them with my own camera too! I think that's fun.

    ReplyDelete
  13. The Invisible Man is actually caught humorous through the book. I loved him and can't wait to see what he has in store in the next issues. After I finish all the comics I am going to re-watch the Sean Connory movie ... it's been a long time since I've seen it.

    Age of Ultron was bad.. BAD!! Avoid it at all cost!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I am SO glad you loved Kingdom Come! Ugh--I was such a failure when it came to this and when I finally sat down with my copy and realized that several of the pages had been torn out, I returned it to the library. :( I'm going to have to try to find another copy of it because of your praise--I was a little worried you didn't like it.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I don't know if missing a few pages would've ruined the book. Did you already return it? You could try to read it after the missing pages and see if you still understand. I bet you would be able to pick up the story in your mind if you keep going.

    ReplyDelete