Comic Book Reviews and Some Out of Contest Goodies

This week, we review Amazing Spider-Man 556, Captain American 37 and Iron Man 28. All these titles are gaining a lot of steam, and they show no sign of stopping just yet. Well, maybe except Spider-Man because Zeb Wells won’t be handling it next month.

Our rating system for this week will be, in the spirit of the upcoming Iron Man movie, Iron Man heads from the former High-G armor. Five out of five helmets means the comic book is fantastically drawn, masterfully written and was thoroughly enjoyable. Zero helmets, which won’t be the case this week, is when the comic is an abberation of science and art and should be burned.

For those who haven’t seen my past reviews, I usually employ a ratings system like this. I’m particularly proud of last week, using Brian Michael Bendis’ head.

 Now, onto my reviews (because I like to think my opinions matter.)

Amazing Spider-Man 556

I loved this issue. In fact, a lot more than the last issue Zeb Wells wrote and Chris Bachalo drew. Hell, I seriously think this should have been the arc they opened BND with. Coming right off the heels of Bob Gale’s less than stellar work, ZB and CB just saved Spidey for a lot of fans.

This issue made Spidey very lovable again, despite his emo-ing. He had a lot of selfless moments; moments that would only look this heart-warming on Spider-Man. However, all of those wonderful moments could still have been achieved if he were still married with MJ. So, yeah, this, in no way, no matter how great it is, can still justify One More Day. Hell, we didn’t even SEE Aunt May this issue or the last, come to think of it.

Zeb Wells and Bachalo should seriously take over this series forever. Unfortunately, that can’t be the case, because of its three-times-a-month release. Therein lies the problem of the nature of the title, the fluctuating creative quality. Bob Gale is set to pick up again next month. Ugh.

And, as an added bonus, the story has a really awesome twist at the end.

Since I’ve always been a Spider-Man fan, and this just rejuvinated my love for the character, I give ASM 556:

Five out of five Iron Man helmets!

Captain America 37

Ed Brubaker can do no wrong with Cap. Although this issue did seem a bit slow to me, with lots of talking heads (not a bad thing), it was still able to create an atmosphere of anticipation and awe.

The story is being told very fluidly, moving at its own pace, making for very good drama. Though the story didn’t exactly take great leaps, except for the logical ones, it moved forward in terms of character interaction. We’ve all seen the previews, right? Clint Barton and Bucky get into a fight. I won’t tell you who wins it, but here’s something I find amusing- one of them goes "He taught me that move, too." Ooooh.

There was one scene there that hardly made sense to me, so I’m hoping that the next issues will shed light to that.

 In some pages, the art here is a bit off, like Steve Epting had a thing for drawing squinty eyes that particular week. But despite that, it gets:

Four out of five Iron Man helmets!

Iron Man: Director of SHEILD 28

For the past few months, I’ve loved how this story has evolved. I particularly enjoyed its pacing, with elements constantly being revealed and concealed. When the end of the arc finally does get here, what does one expect? Well, whatever it is, Iron Man 28 delivered.

But I guess it delievered a little too much; but only very little. There was so much happening in the issue that it felt a little hurried, but I guess that just adds to the rush of this awesome finalé.

The showdown was nothing short of epic; and it marked the return of a fan-favorite armor. Admittedly, it’s one of my least liked armors, but I still squealed just seeing it there. For history, if nothing else. And the way the fight was executed, it was defnitely one of the most viscious IM/Mandarin bouts in recent memory.

With that, I definitely think that the art made an impact. The panels flowed smoothly, and it showed Iron Man as powerful as he’s supposed to be. Great stuff, really. However, there were a few panels where Tony Stark looked a little bit like an Asian Liam Neeson, but that’s okay.

This was a great issue and it gets:

Four and a half Iron Man helmets out of five!

And now, for some cracktastic out of context awesomeness:

Tony Stark in a Captain America costume!