So I've been out of my reviewing ways for quite a while. As such, I feel like I've got a lot to make up for. There are a ton of things that I feel that I've missed out on reviewing that I feel bit disappointed in myself. So, to make up for lost time I shall over compensate with 6 reviews in one go. There will be no scoring in my reviews because shut up this is my review blog.
First up on out plate is 3 issues of Amazing Spider-man: 633, 634, and 635. In issue 633 we find ourselves at the end of Zeb Wells and Chris Bachalo's "SHED" story, with Emma Rios lending a hand with the art. This is a satisfying end to what has been one crazy 4 part ride. Wells has taken the Lizard and made something truly spectacular with the character, and for the first time in ages the character is actually interesting. Bachalo's new look for the lizard only makes things better, turning the character into an actual lizard and a creepy one to boot. Ms. Rios doesn't do half bad herself, blending in so well that I didn't even know two artists did pencils for this. Good to see the book reach this high again, and the next two issues are only building upon that.
634 and 635 start Joe Kelly and Michael Lark's story "The Grim Hunt" which is what this book has been building to since beginning "The Gauntlet" and sweet mama is it a doozy. The Kraven family, sans Kraven himself, have banded together to hunt the "Spiders" which is pretty much any Spider themed hero and Kaine, who needs to not exist. By the end of issue two, we find ourselves with a twist that I loved and an ending that had me saying "Oh $#!#" out loud. Joe Kelly, if this book ever becomes a one writer show, you should be the man to take it over. Lark's art is surprisingly appropriate for this story, which may just be the understatement of the year. It's a good time to be a Spider-man fan!
Review #4 is New Avengers #1, which is actually my favorite first issue of the new batch of Avengers books from Marvel. Here we have Luke Cage putting together HIS team of Avengers, which he's running in the Avengers Mansion, which is now his. This time however, Maria Hand is being tossed into the mix, which is a really good thing; I'm excited to see what Bendis has in store with her on the team. Art is once again the duty of Stuart Immonen and for all I'm concerned it can stay that way. He draws this team like nobodies' business. I look forward to reading issue #2!
Over at DC, Batman is the man as far as this post is concerned; with two issues getting covered, let's start things off with Streets of Gotham #13. Paul Dini and Dustin Nguyen start off year 2 of this book with the second half of a two part-er about the carpenter, a joke character from Dini's run on 'Tec. This may sound like an awful idea, but it's actually a really decent issue. Dini's strength with this book has been in building up Gotham's underground and here it's no different. The Carpenter is a really cute character and I'm actually glad we get to revisit her for these two issues. Mr. Nguyen needs to never stop drawing Batman. There's also the Manhunter back-up which is pretty good, though I really don't care for the art.
Finally, we have Grant Morrison's "Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne" #3 0f 6. Holy cow, this is the best issue of this series by far. The first two were good, but this, this is fantastic. Here we find Bruce captured by a crew of pirates who are forcing him to traverse a familiar little cave. Batman and pirates is like peanut butter and chocolate; I don't think I'll ever get enough of it to truly satisfy me. Also, Morrison really has a knack for writing pirate dialogue. Yanick Paquette's pencils combined with Michel Lacombe's inks and Nathan Fairbairn's colors complete the combo and give us a spectacular pirate story. Oh, and next issue is Batman vs. Jonah Hex. Grant Morrison, you magnificent bastard.
And there we have it! Six, count em', six comics reviewed in one post. Now I need to sleep.
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