Comic Book Reviews- Moon Knight, Avengers and other stuff

Because of my meager budget and poor reading ability, I have come here before you once more to review a few more titles. I’ve got Moon Knight #22, Daredevil #111, Captain America #42, The Mighty Avengers #18, The New Avengers #45, The Immortal Iron Fist: Orson Randall and The Death Queen of California #1, Amazing Spider-Man #572, War Machine: Weapons of SHEILD (in place of Iron Man: Director of SHIELD) #33 and Deadpool #2.

I liked the Deadpool issue and since I’m a big Bob, Agent of Hydra fanboy, they will be our rating system this time around. 5 Bob, Agent of Hydras is a perfect score, and no Bob, Agent of Hydras means you should burn that comic book NOW.

Let’s get to it, shall we?

Moon Knight #22
Written by Mike Benson
Art by Mark Texiera

I like Moon Knight, I really do. I loved the first twenty dozen issues of this run. What the fuck happened? The art on the first issue was crap, but the issue was solid. This issue would’ve been phenominal had the art been more consistent.

I’m not looking for fantastic masterpieces in my panels, of course not. What I am looking for is art that lends to the story, not take away from it and be generally distracting, like a naked cheerleader running across the hallway during an exam.

The premise of this issue’s story is pretty cool, actually. Any story involving the T-Bolts is pretty good, but not when the characterization is off to the point it becomes dues ex machina. Since when did Venom act like a moron? Okay, yeah, Gargan is a fool, yes, but he was never this much of a dumbass.

What really gets my goat is the the bad art. It’s so damn inconsistent and weird. Is Frenchie supposed to look like he loves steroids? And he looks a lot more like Tony Stark than Tony Stark. We see Marc Spector make a weapon and we expect him to look like Sabertooth, but in some panels, he looks like Wolverine (you’ll see what I mean if you pick it up). More than the inconsistency, some panels didn’t even make sense. I found myself going “what the fuck just happened?”

Sorry, Moonie, 2 Bobs out of 5. Maybe if you change artists, then maybe I’ll like you more. Please change artists soon.

Deadpool #2
Written by Daniel Way
Art by Paco Medina

Now this was a fantastic issue. Everything you expect from a Deadpool issue- the asskickery, the insanity, the humor- without trying too hard and flowing naturally. Although I do miss the 4th wall-breaking recap pages, this is still the Deadpool we know and love.

The story’s actually quite good, even though this was an issue full of gags. It lead up to an awesome ending. And when I say awesome, I mean AWESOME.

I think the next issues should pick up in terms of story, though. Otherwise, this is going to get really old, really quick. Nonetheless, the future looks promising.

HOLLA ATCHA BOY! *snickers*

DP gets 5 out of 5 Bobs, Agent of Hydra!

Captain America #42
Written by Ed Brubaker
Art by Steve Epting

Solid, solid ending to a great arc. There were explosions, big action sequences, good internalization and a fantastic ending to boot.

The issue is full of things one would love to see in a Cap issue. And with its full and interesting supporting cast (which sometimes outshines Bucky), everything was knotted together in a fine package, with one win for the good guys- a win that mattered.

The art is as good as ever. I especially liked one panel with Cap’s head wings glowing a bit. It was cute.

The issue was a good solid ending, although it did open up a lot of possibilities for future arcs, which should keep fans interested. What happened to Sharon’s baby? What happened to the Red Skull? What will happen to the Grand Director? And a whole lot more!

4 out 5 for Bucky!Captain America!

Daredevil #111
Written by: Ed Brubaker
Art by: Clay Mann

The past three storyarcs of Daredevil have been good. Well, okay, they were just alright, never dipping into bad but never breaching “wow, my pecker is twitching in excitement.” This arc, with the introduction of a seemingly new character, Lady Bullseye, definitely has the potential to breaking through to greatness.

The issue introduced Lady Bullseye. All my predictions turned out to be wrong, and in the world of comics, I love it when that happens. Unpredictability is the key to a great comic book, I think.

As an introductory issue, it does a great job of showing us the life of Daredevil as Matt Murdock, supporting characters, and the origin of the villian, done in a way that it didn’t seem cliché. We get to see what Matt’s life is like now, and how his supporting characters play off him, and I do love it when the morally gray Daredevil interacts with Danny Rand.

And for the record, Dakota North >>>>>> crazy blind wife of DD, Milla Donovan. She’s spunky and lively and interesting. Milla Donovan was just a victim, even before. North can actually take care of herself, and the dynamic between North and Murdock is very interesting. Assuming that no writer would fuck up North’s characterization, and for as long as they stay in the good hands of Ed Bru, this could be one of those Gwen-Peter/ Jean-Scott/ Rogue-Gambit partnerships. But I guess I’m getting way ahead of myself.

Another thing I loved is the art. I love Michael Lark and the way I see Clay Mann’s art is not better than Lark’s, just different and a refreshing change- the same way I saw Lark’s change from Maleev’s. Thing is, it’s not a glaring change, like suddenly having John Romita, Jr. take over Adi Granov. I’m very happy that Stefano Gaudiano and Matt Hollingsworth stayed on as inker and colorist, respectively.

With Mann, Matt looks more solid, and his action sequences are brutal, I love it. I don’t know if he’s staying on for much longer, but I hope he finishes, at least the arc. If Lark comes back, I’m still very happy, so no worries.

4 and a half Bob, Agent of Hydras for Daredevil, out of 5!

The Mighty Avengers #18
Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Art by Stefano Caselli

Nicky Fury’s Secret Avengers- for some reason, I like them a lot. Maybe it’s because of Nick Fury’s super badassery. Unfortunately, this issue feels like a filler. Well, maybe because it probably is. It just shows Fury training his kids. It’s fun, though, because you can see how bad ass Nick Fury is, turning these kids from green into green berets, and he’s doing it the best way he knows how, and that way is bad ass.

The art, while not as bad ass, has a certain charm. It’s very cartoony- not the way I like my Nick Fury. But all in all, a good issue, but not something necessary. Skip if you like.

3 out of 5 for The Mighty Avengers, in which none of the Mighty Avengers are actually seen.

The New Avengers #45
Written by: Brian Michael Bendis
Art by: Jim Cheung

House of M meets Secret Invasion meets Annihilation. I love how Bendis made all these events are tied up together. It gives the Invasion that much more credibility. It’s been around for years, and no one knows how deep it goes, and how much farther they’ve infiltrated. It’s kind of a scary thought. What I don’t understand is why the Skrulls were aware of Wanda’s reality altering.

However, this issue is not completely necessary. In fact, it feels like a filler- but a very important and amusing one at that. It’ll make you want to read through House of M again. I know I did. It’s nice how everything’s tied together, in one-ness of a common 616 universe.

I love Jim Cheung’s art- it’s cartoony but realistic nonetheless. I think my favorite Cyclops is by Jim Cheung. Well, maybe not, but he still does make a good Cyclops. His action scenes, though the issue had only a splash page.

All in all, a very amusing issue, and a very well-excecuted one, at that, but not very necessary.

For the New Avengers, 3 out of 5!

War Machine: Weapon of SHIELD #33 (Iron Man: Director of SHIELD)
Written by: Christos Gage
Art by: Sean Chen

Why would anyone buy a comic of Iron Man, only to not see Iron Man except for a couple lousy panels? When there’s War Machine instead, yo!

This issue has War Machine taking over Iron Man throughout the comicbook title. I, for one, like War Machine’s design a lot better than Iron Man’s Extremis armor. The New Avengers armor comes close, but still, the Initiative War Machine still takes the armor-cake. This is because of War Machine’s badassery. So expect to see a ton of badassery on this issue.

It opens up a whole new era of War Machine’s shenanigans and adds a whole new dimension to Tony and Jim’s relationship. It also adds depth to Jim’s already intruiging character- depth and BASSASERY.

Expect to see giant robots, lots of guns and things that have been brought.

 4 out 5 Bobs for War Machine: Weapon of SHIELD

Amazing Spider-Man #572
Written by: Dan Slott
Art by: John Romita Jr.

Any issue with Bullseye kicking Spider-Man’s butt (and vice versa) and Norman being the Goblin again has got to be gold.Ths is one of the better issues since Brand New Day. New Ways To Die has made me enjoy Spidey again. I would like to keep continuity going, yes, and have none of that confusing Mephisto bullshit, but still, this is as good as it might get.

You’ve got semi-major revelations, plus a tease on the comeback of two major classic Spidey villians. That, and I like how Spidey handled himself against Bullseye and even though Bullseye jobbed to Spider-Man, it didn’t make Bullseye seem any weaker.

It’s not a secret that I’ve never been a fan of JRJR’s art, but it really does seem to work well with Spidey and his supporting cast, except maybe for the changing  and inconsistent hairstyles of Harry and Normie.

If you’re following New Ways to Die, this is a good issue to have.

4 Bobs out of 5 for Spider-Man!