It's been a few weeks since my last post. I promise to try and get better about them in the future. Once again, I have a pile of comics to review, followed by a bit of news.
Deadpool, issues 4 & 5: I finally received my first two issues of Deadpool via my subscription. Issue #4 was a little disappointing. It certainly advanced the plotline in fairly short order. Too short, in fact. It felt as if the pace was being rushed, getting rid of the presidents nobody ever hears about (Van Buren, Polk, Taylor, etc) just so nobody has to worry about them and the writers don't need to be clever. Issue #5 however was much better. There was some good comedy, and the plot continued forward at a reasonable pace. I don't want to give any spoilers, but the ending definitely makes me want the next issue badly. There is, however, a couple problems I had with the artwork in the book. In one panel, the hilt of a sword is clearly on backwards, and there's a pose in another panel, which I just found absolutely ridiculous. The art isn't my favorite style, but it's good, and I think it fits with the tone of the book.
Thunderbolts #2: I decided to give Thunderbolts the benefit of the doubt, and picked up the second issue. Overall, I was pleased with it. I was a fan of Way's writing from the previous Deadpool series, so I'm not surprised that he manages to do a fair job here, especially getting a couple good one liners from Deadpool. Dillon's artwork is a good match to the tone of the book, although for some reason the Punisher's face always looks... off somehow. It looks like somebody doing their hardest to impersonate Sylvester Stallone. His face just never looks natural. Elektra, Ross, and Venom (for the few panels where his face is visible) all look fine, so it's just Punisher, which is odd. I'm glad that the plot moved forward in this one. The previous one, it just felt like nothing really happened. I'm looking forward to picking up the next couple issues, and getting caught up.
Thor: God of Thunder #2, 3, 5: I picked up all the back issues of God of Thunder that I could, plus the new one. The series continues to be as strong as the opening issue, if not stronger. The jumps between the three different time periods flow more naturally now, integrating with the narrative quite well. I'm absolutely loving the story, it's something that's never been touched on with Thor before, and it's being handled excellently. I'm also enjoying the artwork quite a bit. It's got a nice, soft painterly sort of feel, using no lines at all. It adds a certain sense of the classical to it, which fits with the style. Also, I love that Thor's lettering is unique. Though there are lots of other gods in the books, they all have standard lettering, save for Thor.
I also picked up a new book, one I'd been very interested in.
Superior Spider-Man #1: For anyone who hasn't heard, the true Peter Parker is dead (supposedly). Otto Octavius, formerly Doc Oc, switched his mind into Peter's body. However, he does have a lot of Peter's memories, and has decided to give the hero thing a go. It's interesting, seeing Spider-Man in a whole new way. It's not Peter Parker calling the shots, because it's the right thing to do. Otto's got his own reasons for doing things, and his own ways. I'm really intrigued to keep reading, and looking forward to picking up the back issues.
That's all the comics I picked up to review. So far, I've been very pleased with the Marvel NOW reboot. I obviously haven't picked up everything, but from what I've seen, they've got good teams on the books. My only problem (and I feel that this is a problem that's been going on for awhile) is how many similarly titled books there are. I mean, there's Superior Spider-Man, Avenging Spider-Man and Ultimate Spider-man, and that's just for one character. There's I think three X-men titles as well, with a fourth coming out in the near future (which I'm excited for), and four Avengers titles. For new readers, it's hard to tell what the book's going to be like, and what the differences are.
For anyone who pays attention to my Facebook posts (which I'm assuming is anyone reading this), my own fledgling steps into the world of comic creation have been going well. I have been working on the character designs for the first arc of my own comic series. I am planning on having it setup as a webcomic, and if it gains enough popularity, selling print copies of it as a graphic novel. I'm going to need help getting a place on the web setup for the comic, so if anyone is willing to help with that, I'd love to hear from you. Oh, and of course, if anyone has suggestions of new comics, I'm always happy to hear them.
