Weekly Comic Reviews

Hey all, welcome back. There was no Weekly Comic Reviews last week, the only comic I had picked up was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #10. Ah, such nostalgia. The issue reminded me of the days I would get up on Saturday mornings to check out Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on the FoxBox. (Then they changed that title to 4Kids, lame.) I highly recommend TMNT from IDW. (Who's also doing Godzilla no less!) Anyways, here we have Avengers vs. X-Men #5, Detective Comics #10, and G.I.Combat #2.

Avengers vs. X-Men #5

Official Description

• The fiery conclusion of Act One brought to you by Matt Fraction and John Romita Jr! • Clashing on a lunar battlefield, the tide of the conflict will be turned…• The Phoenix takes its host! All hope is lost?!  

 Review

The moment we've all been waiting for, the Phoenix has arrived, and it does not disappoint.The build-up from the earlier issues has been great, and this issue is no exception. There's a sense of doom because the reader really has no clue how this is all going to play out. In that sense, Avengers vs. X-Men really is the new Civil War. I also like how something that happens here is so out of left field, it's the last thing you would expect. Unfortunately, the dialogue is often not that great. Cap referring to Iron Man as 'Stark' was probably the most off thing about the issue. At this point in time, Cap wouldn't refer to him as plainly 'Stark.' It's a little thing, sure, but also Cyclops sounds like a complete madman! In fact, all the X-Men seem like mindless drones for Cyclops. The art is pretty mixed. It's great for splash pages and making the Phoenix look creepy/menacing, but sometimes the characters look off. Cap suffers especially from this.

7.5/10

Detective Comics #10

Official Description

• BATMAN must defend WAYNE ENTERPRISES from espionage and himself from the menace of HYPNOTIC! • The latest chapter in the TWO-FACE backup story!

Review

Now this is what I'm talking about. When you open a Batman comic, this is what you want to see in the first few pages. We have a few Batmen with guns assaulting a truck, it's good stuff. The story is the strongest aspect here, it's really great. Also, for the first time, the Bruce Wayne scenes don't feel forced or filler. As you know from the description, a new villain in the form of Mr. Toxic makes his debut. (Alright, he's appeared before, but here he's not in the background. Who the heck is Hypnotic?!) Great design, if not a just a little bit ripped-off from Red Hood. He has a pretty impressive 'debut,' but let's see if he's not one of those throwaway villains to buy time. The dialogue is sometimes strong, but also can be very off, namely with Batman. This sarcastic portrayal of him is not working. The backup Two Face story is slightly interesting, but those pages could have been used to flesh out the main story better. After reading Avengers vs. X-Men #5, it was good to see some fantastic comic book art here. The art here is some of the best currently in comics.

8/10

G.I. Combat #2

Official Description

• In “THE WAR THAT TIME FORGOT,” contemporary soldiers must battle pterodactyls and a tyrannosaurus rex as they struggle to understand where – or when – they are! • THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER becomes a human guinea pig in hopes that the experiments will grant him super powers.

Review

Despite the backup story, this issue doesn't feel worth the $3.99. It's lacking something. The War That Time Forgot is my kind of concept, but the dialogue isn't that strong. It does deliver fantastic dinosaur action, it's just hard not to smile as the dinos get substantial page time. So far nothing has been really explained of why this is happening. Normally that wouldn't be a bad thing, but the characters aren't particularly engaging. Still, the dinosaurs get enough page time to keep the story fun. The backup Unknown Soldier story contines to be interesting. If they could apply the writing from there into The War That Time Forgot, it would be perfect. The art has a glossy look, the dinosaurs look incredible.

6/10