Grayson, vol. 2: We All Die at Dawn

Grayson, Vol 2: We All Die At Dawn by Tom King
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

(Received from Netgalley for review)

After reading both volumes of Grayson, I’d venture to say that the one problem with this book is, in actual point of fact, the title character. Because if you can ignore that this is meant to be Dick Grayson, formerly Robin and Nightwing, and treat him as an entirely new character, then this is a decent spy book. Making the main character Dick just brings in a whole host of issues, including that Dick just isn’t suited to be an undercover spy who will be expected to kill for long periods of time. And this is evidently meant to be an open ended investigation. It’s an incredible stretch for me to believe that he’d be able to evade suspicion for even a few weeks, much less for as long as he has.

That’s not to say that, once stripped of the paper thin Batman tie in, it’s a great book. Midnighter just keeps showing up, which I was not thrilled with. Nothing against the character in general, but is pitting him as Grayson’s antagonist really what DC wants to do with this character? Because there’s very little done to develop him, so there’s nothing to really distinguish him from Random Smartass #3. I guess this was being used as the launching point for his own book, but it doesn’t help this one.

Now, the first issue in here, the desert story, is actually really good. It’s easily the best thing in the book. Unfortunately, the momentum kind of peters out from there. Again, not bad, just ok. Honestly, it feels like the whole series is just treading water, because this has finite written all over it and there obviously has to be some kind of end in mind. But this just felt like stretching out the series to stretch it out, not that there was something actively being worked towards. I don’t know, maybe it’s just going over my head, but I don’t feel like we’re going anywhere.

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Review: Wolverine Old Man Logan by Mark Millar

Wolverine: Old Man Logan by Mark Millar
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Brief Introduction:

Now, everyone knows that I am a huge fan of Wolverine, so when I heard about this unique little story called “Wolverine: Old Man Logan,” I just had to try this comic out! Luckily, I was not disappointed with this story as “Wolverine: Old Man Logan” was one of the most intense and possibly terrifying stories I had ever read about Wolverine! With spectacular writing from Mark Millar and dramatic artwork by Steve McNiven, “Wolverine: Old Man Logan” is definitely one comic book you just have to check out!

What is the story?

In the future world, the United States is being ruled by the villains of the Marvel Universe (Dr. Doom, Norman Osborn and the Kingpin) and all of the superheroes were killed off, except for two heroes: Wolverine and Hawkeye! Wolverine is now living peacefully with his family as he swore off ever using his claws ever again since a horrible incident happened that dealt with him using his claws. One day however, the evil Hulk Gang wanted their payment in rent from Wolverine and if they do not get their rent money, they will kill Wolverine’s family. So, Wolverine goes on a cross country journey with his partner, a now blind Hawkeye, to get some money for Wolverine to pay the rent. Unfortunately, even though Wolverine is trying to live a peaceful life, he will soon realize that in a world ruled by villains, he will always be a target and he might have to compromise his stance on not fighting anymore once his life and family are being threatened!

What I loved about this comic:

Mark Millar’s writing: After reading Mark Millar’s fantastic run on “Ultimate X-Men,” I just knew that I had to give this book a try and when I did, oh my goodness, I was totally blown away by this story! Mark Millar had done a fantastic job at giving us a really dark and dystopian world where super-villains ruled the United States and Logan decides to give up being “Wolverine” after a tragic event happened in his past. I loved the way that Mark Millar developed Wolverine’s character and the fact that there would be a day where I would see Wolverine become a pacifist was really surprising to me. I also enjoyed the back story about why Wolverine became a pacifist and what happened to him in the past was a truly terrifying and emotional moment in this book that will make you really sympathize with Wolverine’s predicament. I also loved the idea about this being a “what if” story about what would happened if the super-villains ruled the world and all the super heroes were killed? It rose up so many interesting scenarios in this comic about what the super villains would do once they take over the world and how the world would look like. Apparently, the world is full of people being killed for no good reason and the endless changes to the United States such as California now being called “Hulkland.” I also loved the way that Mark Millar portrayed Hawkeye and Wolverine’s relationship with each other as Hawkeye is always cheerful and can still fight extremely well even when he is blind and I loved the fact that they still remain friends after all the hardships of living in a villain ruled world.

Steve McNiven’s artwork: Steve McNiven’s artwork was just so fantastic in this comic! I loved the way that Steve McNiven made the characters looks extremely realistic. The characters’ facial expressions are done extremely well as there are shadows on the characters’ faces whenever they are having dark thoughts. I also enjoyed how detailed the bloody scenes were as blood squirts everywhere whenever the characters are cut up as it gives the scenes a much more frightening feeling.

What made me feel uncomfortable about this book:

~A huge warning for anyone reading this comic~

This comic has oodles and oodles of blood and gore throughout! I had never seen a “Wolverine” comic that had so many scenes of people being killed in the most brutal ways (being cut up) and anyone who does not like seeing any kind of strong violence in a comic might want to skip this comic. Also, there is some language in this comic, although not as strong as something you would see in Scott Snyder’s “American Vampire” or Neil Gaiman’s “Sandman” series, so for anyone who does not like reading language in a book, they might want to skim over these words. I took off half a star because I felt that the beginning was moving a bit too slow and it was not until the middle of the story where things really started to pick up. Also, the story might be a bit confusing for anyone who does not read “Avengers” or any other Marvel comics since it manages to combine most of the Marvel characters into one story (I know I got really confused when the Avengers were mentioned since I barely read the “Avengers” comics (big X-Men fan here).

Final Thoughts:

Overall, “Wolverine: Old Man Logan” was a really interesting read for me since I usually do enjoy the usual dystopian future storylines and this one was really creative and unique to read through. Wolverine fans will definitely enjoy this fantastic one shot story of everyone’s favorite claw wielding mutant!

Rating?

Review: X-Men Days of Future Past by Chris Claremont

X-Men: Days of Future Past by Chris Claremont
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Brief Introduction:

As I read through these older X-Men stories originally written by Chris Claremont, I wondered to myself about how the X-Men stories were like back then versus how they are now. The stories back then seemed to flow together nicely and the character interactions were fantastic and reading some of the newer X-Men stories currently being made, they seem to lose that magic that made them great in the first place. But enough about my little rant on the state of the “X-Men” comics nowadays, this is about the most popular story in “X-Men” history since “The Dark Phoenix Saga,” “Days of Future Past.” This graphic novel does contain the popular story “Days of Future Past” written by Chris Claremont with artwork by John Byrne, but it also contains issues 138 – 143, so there are multiple stories in this collection that were quite enjoyable!

What is the story?

This collection of stories takes place after the events of “The Dark Phoenix Saga” and the X-Men get into more adventures which includes the inclusion of a young Kitty Pryde into the X-Men! There are a total of six issues in this collection and therefore there are six stories that include:

Elegy – After the events of “The Dark Phoenix Saga,” Cyclops decides to leave the X-Men in order to cope with Jean Grey’s unfortunate death.

Nightcrawler’s Inferno – When Nightcrawler’s soul is stolen by an evil force in the Inferno, the X-Men along with Doctor Strange journey to the Inferno to save Nightcrawler’s soul from the evil forces of the Inferno.

Something Wicked This Way Comes and Rage! – Wolverine and Nightcrawler journey to Canada and not only meet up with the mutant team Alpha Flight, but they also discovered that a monstrous beast named Wendigo is on the loose in the Canadian wilderness!

Days of Future Past and Mind out of Time! – In this classic tale, Kate Pryde (who is Kitty Pryde in the future) goes into the past and takes over Kitty Pryde’s mind in order to warn the X-Men about the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants’ attempt at assassinating Senator Robert Kelly that will unfortunately cause a terrible chain of events that will cause the Sentinels to kill all the mutants in the future. The X-Men then try to stop the Brotherhood of Mutants from killing Senator Robert Kelly in order to prevent this terrible future from happening!

Demon – On Christmas Eve, all the X-Men left the Institute to spend the holidays with their families, leaving Kitty Pryde by herself. Unfortunately, Kitty Pryde will soon realize that she is not alone in the Institute when a frightening demon comes to the Institute and tries to attack Kitty!

What I loved about this comic:

Chris Claremont’s writing: As usual with most of the older “X-Men” comics written by Chris Claremont, Chris Claremont’s writing was truly excellent and exciting! I loved the way that Chris Claremont makes sure that the readers understand what was happening over the years that the characters spent their time as the X-Men, especially in the first story of Cyclops telling readers about the events that happened while he was with the X-Men from the day he first became an X-Men to the death of Jean Grey when she turned into the Dark Phoenix. I also loved the way that Chris Claremont portrayed the relationships between the X-Men, especially between Storm, Kitty Pryde, Colossus, Wolverine and Nightcrawler as all of these members have an extremely close relationship with each other and it was hilarious seeing the witty banter that takes place between Colossus, Wolverine and Nightcrawler. I especially loved the way that Chris Claremont wrote the story “Days of Future Past” as it was the first X-Men story where the X-Men deals with an apocalyptic future that would soon inspire many other apocalyptic themed stories in the future and the dark and dreary mood of the dystopian world that that X-Men would face in the future was done extremely well and I often felt so much remorse for the X-Men as they had to survive in a world where mutants were becoming extinct. I also loved the story “Nightcrawler’s Inferno” as Chris Claremont clearly showed the close relationship between the X-Men and Colossus was just so awesome in that story!

John Byrne’s artwork: John Byrne’s artwork was so fantastic and beautiful and I especially loved the appearances of most of the characters, especially of Kitty Pryde herself having a cute face and long and wavy brown hair (even though I often wonder why she is drawn with having a long face). I also loved the way that John Byrne illustrated the dystopian future in “Days of Future Past” as the world looks dark and dreary with images of buildings being worn down and Sentinels occupying everything in its mist.

What made me feel uncomfortable about this book:

The only problem with this collection of stories is that each story is a bit too long to read through as the pages are littered with information about what happened in past events and the characters are constantly talking about the limits of their powers and how they plan on defeating their enemies. Now, I love stories where there is so much information about the characters, but in a graphic novel or comic format, it might be a bit too much for new readers to handle and you might get a “brain burn” after you try to read all the information about the characters and the story itself.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, “Days of Future Past” is easily one of the most memorable “X-Men” stories next to “The Dark Phoenix Saga” and “God Loves Man Kills” and I am definitely sure that “X-Men” fans will take delight in reading this story!

Rating?

Review: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Omnibus Vol. 1 by Joss Whedon

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Omnibus, Vol. 1 by Joss Whedon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Introduction:

Now, I have to tell everyone who reads this review something…I am a HUGE FAN OF “BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER!!!” I have always loved that show and when I heard that they were making comic books out of this series, of course I had to check them out! So, when I picked up the “Buffy the Vampire Slayer Omnibus Volume One,” I was wondering what this volume was going to be all about and to my excitement and delight, this volume detailed the early years of Buffy Summers when she first moved to Sunnydale and how she became a vampire slayer and I was quite impressed with the whole experience!

What is this story about?

This volume contains five stories that details Buffy’s first year as a vampire slayer and also features other characters during their early years such as Angel, Spike and Drusilla. These are the five stories featured in this omnibus:

All’s Fair:

Written by: Christopher Golden
Artwork by: Eric Powell

In this story, Spike and Drusilla (Dru) go off to the World’s Fair in 1933, causing mayhem as they suck out the blood from various unfortunate human beings while discovering a demon who wants to be freed from its prison at the same time!

Buffy: The Origin

Written by: Dan Brereton and Christopher Golden
Artwork by: Joe Bennett

Based off of Joss Whedon’s original script for the origin story of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” this story details how Buffy Summers first became the vampire slayer we all know and love and the character development that she goes through to realize her true destiny.

Viva Las Buffy!

Written by: Scott Lobdell and Fabian Nicieza
Artwork by: Cliff Richards

After Buffy gets expelled for burning down her old school, she and Pike run away from home and ended up in Las Vegas to start a new life. But, Buffy will soon learn that she cannot run away from her problems when she encounters a sinister ring going on inside the casino.

Dawn and Hoopy the Bear

Written and artwork by: Paul Lee

Dawn Summers, Buffy’s younger sister, ends up getting a cute little teddy bear named Hoopy the Bear from a total stranger and while she loves her teddy bear unconditionally, she will soon realize that Hoopy the Bear is not what he seems at all…

Slayer, Interrupted

Written by: Scott Lobdell and Fabian Nicieza
Artwork by: Cliff Richards

Inspired by the “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” TV episode “Normal Again,” Buffy’s parents ended up admitting Buffy to a rehab center since they believed that Buffy has gone insane when she started talking about her vampire slaying business. Has Buffy really gone insane and her vampire slaying business is really all in her head or is Buffy’s destiny truly real?

What I loved about this story:

The writing: Oh my goodness! Who would have thought that several separate stories about Buffy’s early years as a vampire slayer would be mind-blowing good? I have to tell you that I enjoyed each story in this volume (although the only story that I thought was half-way decent was “Dawn and Hoopy the Bear”) and I think that each writer had done this series a true justice! I was always curious about the origin story of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” since I was only familiar with the TV series created by Joss Whedon and I have never seen the original 1992 movie that detailed the origin story of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” although I did see bits and pieces of the movie when I was younger. When I first found out that the original 1992 movie was not what Joss Whedon originally intended when he scripted out the origin story for “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” I was a bit surprised (and yet not really, since this is Hollywood we are talking about) and I was glad that we got a closer interpretation of Joss Whedon’s vision of the origin story of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” in this omnibus since I wanted to see how Joss Whedon really wanted Buffy’s origin story to go. I also enjoyed the fact that we get to see not only Buffy’s early years, but other characters too like Spike, Drusilla and Angel. I really loved Spike and Drusilla’s story since they are truly funny together and I always wanted to know what Spike was like before he met Buffy. I was also really excited to see Angel in this omnibus since I love Angel as a character, even though I wished that Angel had his own story in this volume so we get to learn more about his character during his early years.

The artwork: The artwork in each story is truly beautiful and effective to look at, especially with how each artist manage to capture the actor and actresses’ true facial expressions. I think the artists that really captured Sarah Michelle Gellar’s facial expressions the best were Joe Bennet and Cliff Richards as they truly draw the characters realistically and it felt like I was really watching a TV episode of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” since each character look like their live action counterparts from the TV series!

What made me feel uncomfortable about this story:

For anyone who does not like language and gory violence in a graphic novel, this omnibus does have some language and gory violence (mostly revolving around Buffy staking vampires in gory ways). Also, I have mentioned that the short story “Dawn and Hoopy the Bear” was a story line that I could have done without since I felt that this story did not really bring anything to the main stories and was just there to tell a story about Dawn.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer Omnibus Volume 1” is a truly fantastic volume for anyone who is a huge fan of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” in general and who wants to learn more about the origin stories of our favorite vampire slayer!

Rating?

Batman: The Black Mirror by Scott Snyder

Batman: The Black Mirror by Scott Snyder

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Eh. Meh.

I feel like there’s a theme in Snyder’s books about secret underground organisations existing for ages in Gotham, which just shock the hell out of whoever is Batman at the moment. Maybe it’s less impressive because I read Court of Owls first?

There are three stories in this one, and I’m not sure which one I liked the best, since they all had their pros and cons.

I seem to be incapable of writing coherently today. so quick impressions.