Wolverine #1

Wolverine #1! Starts with a half disintegrated Wolverine assuring the reader or a bystander not to worry he is a Super Hero.  He says this I assume because yet again Wolverine looks horrible.  But while Wolverine is trying to assure us that everything is ok a madman is killing innocent Coffee House visitors.  Lots and lots and lots of people die and then Wolverine gets off his ass and fails to save the day.  This comic has potential but seems more interested in killing innocent bystanders like some rabid terrorist than providing an interesting story.

Batman!! #18

Batman #18!!!  Was slow but still managed to be interesting.  This is another Requiem issue with the aftermath of the death of Robin (Damian Wayne).  We get the return of Harper and Cullen Row with Harper trying to help Batman get over the death or at least get some sleep before some punk manages to kill Batman.  It is all kinds of wordy yet interesting.  I liked this issue.

Batman and Robin #18

Batman and Robin #18 Requiem was interesting as it lacked typed or spoken dialog of any type.  The story was told entirely in the graphic form that is possible with comic books. While I am tempted to be flippant and say this was simply a writer being lazy and a big company deciding not to pay a letterer.  I have to say the art work was excellent with several very worthy frames.  There is little to else to say since there is not much development beyond that which was displayed.  I liked this issue.

Batgirl #18 Requiem / Death of the Family

Batgirl #18 Requiem was horrible.  First off the story really has nothing to do with the death of Robin beyond Batgirl getting a phone call.  This issue is really a continuation of the Death of the Family Story line where Barbra Gordon is fighting against her brother.  But the story is told in a bad noir style from the evil brother’s point of view.  It has bad stilted writing as show in blocky block text that might be trying to be dramatic.  But in reality it is bad crappy writing pretending to put a woman in an imaginary abusive situation of some kind of “I hate all women” fantasy.  You the reader and I should get better for our money but when Spider-Man beats his wife/girlfriend and is still considered a hero there is not much hope for the art form since abuse is abuse weather it is in a comic book or real life.

Katana #2

Katana #2 was interesting and while I realize for the most part this is all backstory being told to us the reader as current events.  It is still just telling us who Katana was and will become.  There is a bit of choppiness in the story with story jumps as if we were watching an old Kung Fu flick.  It is a little more confusing that the story needs to be.  In the end Katana makes alliances and the story moves along.  Then Steve Trevor shows up and now what?...

Before Watchmen - Ozymandias #6 !!!

Before Watchmen – Ozymandias #6 was simply a retelling of the movie and portions from the original Watchmen comic book.  I was rather disappointed as after the last issue this could have been much more and better.  This was the last chance to do something good with the Watchmen universe and instead just did a basic retread.

Age of Ultron!!

Age of Ultron Book One was good.  It was better than I expected or hoped.  The art is really good thanks to Bryan Hitch, Paul Neary and Paul Mounts.  I am a bit disappointed that the story begins mid disaster or post disaster which was Ultron taking over the world or at least Manhattan.  The world is in a post-apocalyptic state with Manhattan under what appears to be a giant spaceship or building (a dome?).  The action starts with Hawkeye attacking what appears to be a drug den or at least a place with bad guys running the show.  It turns out Hawkeye is trying to save Spider-Man (we do not know which Spider-Man yet) from Hammerhead and the Owl.  During the rescue the action attracts the notice of many Ultrons whom attack the hideout even though there was a deal possibly made between Hammerhead and Ultron that kept those bad guys safe from the big and powerful Ultron.  That deal seems to fail as the Ultrons the building and such explode.  The good guys get away and reach their hideout in the crashed remains of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier where we meet more survivors.  These survivors are not happy that Hawkeye has returned and run tests on Hawkeye and Spider-Man.  They are greeted by Luke Cage and She-Hulk followed by Tony Stark (Iron Man) who runs tests on Hawkeye and Spider-Man to make sure they had not been infected with a tracker of some sort.  We then get a quick look at additional survivors Emma Frost, Wolverine, Sue Storm and finally after some more plot exposition we finally see Captain America whom we are told is devising a plan.  First off Hawkeye?  We just had an end of the world mini-series that followed Hawkeye around while the world burned under the fist of Doctor Doom and the crazy zombie plague known as the Avengers vs. the Marvel Universe.  So we have been there done that with Hawkeye and considering the number of mid power super heroes it seems like Marvel could have gone with a different character to follow.  I was entertained, when at the beginning of the book Hawkeye continues to use his trademark arrows even if he has switched to hand crossbows.   Second the good guys are waiting on the good Captain America for a plan?  Even though they have Tony Stark one of the world’s smartest people available to make plans and fix stuff.  In the end I did enjoy this comic nitpicking aside it was entertaining and a good attempt to draw in the reader.