Scribblenauts Unmasked #6 Review –“The Crisis of Personalities Rages Through!”

Intro

At the time I heard the Scribblenauts Unmasked video game coming out, I was really pumped. Mainly, because it was a crossover of one my favorite DS games with DC characters. I was really excited to have my hands on this game because of the interactions with almost every DC characters plus character creation. I still haven’t got the chance to play it, because at first I was contemplating whether to miss-out on the co-op feature. So, I decide to check out the comic and I very much enjoyed so much that I decided to get the game anyway for the PC. The comic series has been over the walls funny. It’s got many great jokes and stories with many great DC characters. Plus, there’s a little cuteness for kids to enjoy. So, if you’re looking for series for you or your kid to enjoy then I recommend jumping on to this series. It’s definitely fun for all ages and this issue is an absolute kicker with the funniness.

Story

Maxell has been fighting off-orbit on Rann with other heroes. But he needs help from Batman and Batman has been ignoring him and we get to find out why.

The Good

Wow! This issue is hilarious! Just seeing the reaction of Batman and Maxell are so funny! This issue still has a great story too that really sets up the next issue and the storyline for the arc. Plus, there’s some interaction with Adam Strange.

The art seems to be good as well. There’s great use of face expressions, colors and action. You can really tell what’s going on and there are also a lot of neat splash pages too.

The Bad

They kind of skimmed over many DC characters and I kind of wish there was more interactions with them.

Verdict

I give this issue a 4.5/9.5 out of 5/10 stars. This issue was really funny! Maxell and Batman will definitely make you laugh. There’s some neat interactions of Adam Strange and great use of action in the art. I just wish we saw more of the other DC characters. But the jokes alone will definitely mark your interest to pick this issue up. So, if you’re looking for a good laugh, then I recommend you jump on this series. 

Animal Man #28 Review –“The Animal Family is Back and Stronger Than Ever!”

Intro

Since the New 52 began with Animal Man, Jeff Lemire has done a great job on the series. He has made Animal Man really grow as a great character. Animal Man is a man that really cares for his family, no matter how bad the relationships been and that’s why I appreciated the character so much. The family members have been great as well and they even make you care about them too. The struggles these characters will make you feel sad and engaging all the way through. This is one series I recommend getting in trade if you’re a new reader since this series is cancelled and there’s only one issue left. But if you still want to follow through anyways, it’s still good because he will be joining a new series/team called Justice League United and you might want to pick that series when it starts to enjoy more new adventures with Animal Man. So, it’s a win-win situation if you want to pick this issue up. In this issue the family is still put through a deep struggle which is still an enjoyment to read.

Story

Animal Man fights Brother Blood to get his family back.

The Good

The story continues to be engaging and it’s great to see how an encouraging these characters can be even despite all the struggles. It’s great to see that Little Wing and Animal Man’s confidence are one and the same and seeing how much they are willing to do to save their family and friends.

The Bad

The art is really ugly and disgusting here. It’s the only disappointment this book really has and the action would have been so much greater if the art wasn’t so bad.  Everything looks really rushed and muddled and there’s so much detail. It even makes the book feel off and the text is pretty hard to read at times.

Verdict

I give this issue a 4/9 out of 5/10 stars. This issue brings a really power struggle to the characters I really love. Animal Man and Little Wing really show their courage and how strong they can really be as characters. I really love the fact they are willing to achieve at anything to get their family and friends back. It really shows them how much of heroes they really are. The only disappointments in this issue the art and it does seem to go by too quickly. That’s why I couldn’t write anything more. But other than Jeff Lemire does a great job and the issue is still worth buying. It really has a great character buildup that’s worth looking into. 

Earth 2 #20 Review –“Staying inside isn’t for good after all!”

Intro

At the time I heard that the JSA characters were returning in an all new Earth 2 series set in the New 52, I was really hyped.  Mainly because, I was really looking forward to how different they will be compared to the originals and what we might see still be the same. When James Robinson was in this series, he did a really good job on establishing who the characters were and how different they actually are. These characters had very much youth-ness and different ethnicities and backgrounds that I loved very much. It really felt like this was a more modernized version of our favorite DC characters. I also liked that some the personalities in these characters felt very much the same too but it still felt like a different universe. Even with the change of Alan Scott’s sexuality didn’t change much of anything of the character. He felt very much like the same Alan Scott I always knew, so I’m assuming the change I didn’t like (for other reasons, not homophobia) wasn’t really necessary and what’s just some publicity stunt need for DC. But this series has definitely grown to have many different interesting characters like the new Batman, Hawkgirl, Dr. Fate, etc.  Even when Tom Taylor took over on this series, he still manages to keep interesting and giving different identities to the characters we know like Red Tornado as Lois Lane and Jimmy as an A.I. It really gives off that Ultimate Universe feeling of the DCU. Plus, he’s written one of the best Batman stories ever made that proved that this Batman is more different than Bruce Wayne. That issue alone is definitely worth picking up, so please get the Earth 2 Annual #2. It’s a great Batman story you will love to read. Even though this issue features pretty much a different artist, it still manages to pull a similar art that’s just as good as Nicola Scott’s. Nicola Scott is another reason alone why this series is worth a pick up because her art is such great solid detail and looks amazingly beautiful in every page. It even has great use of colors and the action as well. This time we are learning about Val, the soon to be new Superman which, seems to be very different and interesting. So, please pick this book if you can especially if you enjoy Miles Morales, Spider-Man. It feels very much that way, but still a different take on it.

Story

Mera helps the team to get away from the Parademons and they eventually meet Val-El and discover a way to get rid of his agoraphobia.

The Good

This issue continues to make the book interesting by learning different various versions of new and old characters alike and making them fun to read. It’s great to see how powerful this Mera can be and how different she looks and seems to be in this universe. What I found great the most in this issue, is the conversation between Lois Lane (Red Tornado) and Val-El about his agoraphobia. It really brings great encouragement and challenge of fear to the characters and deepens their relationships. It also shows how different of a Superman, Val might be.

The art continues to looking great even though it comes from a different artist. Billy Kitson still manages to make the art look very similar to Nicola Scott. It looks stunningly great and phenomenal especially the beautiful scenery with Mera using her water powers giving a nice watery effect. The only problem is that face expressions look a little stiff and weird.

The Bad

The confidence of Lois Lane about Superman being too good to be evil might be a bit bothersome for people. It can really come off as bad and something that might bite her in the end. I kind of wish we got learn more about Mera and I felt they brushed away from her too quickly. People might also still have a missing feeling that the JSA characters aren’t back and we still have no idea what’s wrong with Dr. Fate.

Verdict

I give this issue a 4/9 out of 5/10 stars. It’s an amazing issue that continues to deliver great characters and learning so much about them. Val’s agoraphobia really brings a great dynamic and takes him on such a different level than Clark’s. Mera seems to be interesting, but I’m hoping learning about her, Sato and Red Arrow (besides his secret identity) pretty soon. I can also see the future of the JSA characters returning very soon so don’t feel very much left out. So, if you’re looking for a book that will give you a different feel of the DCU, then I recommend picking this issue up. This is one great series worth looking into. 

Iron Man #21 Review –“The Rings Tears Through!”

Intro

When I heard, Kieron Gillen writing for Iron Man I was really amped up to read it. Because I really loved his writing from Journey into Mystery and Uncanny X-Men very much. So, I really wanted to see what his take on Iron Man.  But as soon as I started picking it up, I really lost interest. To me, the story he’s taken with Iron Man doesn’t really add up to well. And I really don’t like the idea of rewriting the origin of Iron Man. I didn’t mind him having a brother, it’s just him being adopted by Howard Stark is what bothered me. Yup, you heard that right! It’s one story that doesn’t add up to well because Howard and Tony has so much resemblance  in terms of looks and personalities, so how could they not be related? It still isn’t explained somehow this happened fully. But seeing this happen gives me a headache and I felt that everything that held Tony and Howard Stark together and the man he became got erased. Even with this Mandarin rings story it still doesn’t interest me nearly as much either. It just seems to me that Gillen doesn’t have any idea of who Iron Man is and the villains aren’t interesting too. Because they are just too one-dimensional and there’s nothing different about them. I just really hope someone will eventually take over to make this series better and much greater such as like Matt Fraction, because it’s the 21^st issue in and it still isn’t a good series. 

Story

Abigail is set to find the Mandarin ring bearers and when she does, Iron Man bumps into them as well.

The Good

The only thing I continue to like in this series is the art. Joe Bennett still draws the characters very stunning and everything just looks beautifully detailed. The only problem is that at the very end of the issue, the quality starts to fall in the action and looks rushed and cluttered. It looks very weird how it really got to that point. Another good thing is that we got to learn why these ring bearers hate Tony Stark.

The Bad

There seems to be not much going on in this issue. It feels very much as a set up and it doesn’t nearly excite you as much for the next issue.  Abigail still seems to be one-dimensional and nothing seems to differentiate her and the others on why they hate Tony. We all know why they hate him, but we can’t see the different personalities they have. They all seem to be the same character but with different ways to get to a certain point with Tony are the problem. Also, the argument between Arno and Tony is annoying at this point and it doesn’t look like as if it’s good character progression.

Verdict

I give this issue a 3.3/7.3 out of 5/10 stars. This issue is just okay for me. Not much is going on for me to enjoy it and I think it was just rushed for some drama or collision for the next issue. The problem is that there isn’t enough room for character development or background history to grow on. This story just has the problem to run by too quickly and slowly at the same time. But the plus side of this issue is that the art remains to be pretty to look at. But other than that this series continues to falter and the only reason I see picking this up, is if you would like to see what’s going on. But that still doesn’t hold my interest enough with this series. 

  

A + X #17 Review –“When the Battle of the Brains are Combined!”

Intro

As the time this series was out I was pretty interested in what they could come up with the characters I never seen teamed up before. But as soon as I jumped onto the series, I was really disappointed. Mainly, because of the format of two team-ups split into two stories. This format was a big problem for the series because it caused the stories to be rushed and uncared for. The writing was pretty terrible and there was many out of character moments. Plus, the art was pretty bad as well. I don’t understand why this series was even made when Marvel never put any effort in making this series good. Even the good writers made these stories read terrible. They were so bad it looked like I was reading a book from an alternate universe. I couldn’t possibility believe that so many good writers wrote many bad stories for this series. Another problem was that each issue had a different story and none of them connect which is why I felt DC Universe Presents was a much better series. It really delivered great character arcs that expanded for more than one issue and gave much character development for many obscure characters. So, since this series was failing Marvel decided to do a five-part story with Captain America and Cyclops which still failed. Because it still had the same format being split by another unnecessary story. Plus, the story and the characters remained not interesting and out of character. Also, the art didn’t improve as well. But to say at least issue was decent enough for a pick up. It had a great first story followed by another terrible unnecessary story. So, you might have mixed feelings I like did.

Story

Broo teams up with Iron Man for a school assignment meanwhile the story of Captain America and Cyclops with the Skrulls continues.

The Good

The Broo and Iron Man story was really good and probably the best in this series. They had a really good chemistry and it’s definitely one I would like to see progress in the future. What I like about this story is the character development. It was really great see the relationship grow from Iron Man being bothered to actually loving Broo. They really found their strengths that helped get along more and seeing the glimpses of that relationship grow in future gave a very great charm. The art was pretty good as well with solid character models and detail. The only problem I had was the villain. He pretty much was D-listed character that was just there to move the story along.

The Bad

The next story was all kind of terrible. For the majority of the issue it was placed in Dr. Doom head fighting off the Avengers. Everyone was really out of character and gave off that old school superhero cheesiness. Hulk was back to being dumb and everyone else was acting like an archetype hero and villain. It definitely felt very off-placed for this issue. What makes it even worst is that soon as the dream is over the story immediately rushes to a cliffhanger without expanding on anything. It really made the story pointless. The only semi-good thing about this issue was the art. There were some really good looking panels during the fight in the dream. But after that, it got really bad looking panels.  

Verdict

I give this issue a 3.3/7.3 out of 5/10 stars. This issue was definitely a step-up but still fell in the okay range and I pretty surprised because every issue I read was pretty terrible. If the first story was alone I would have gave this a better score. But since the other story was pretty awful I had to put it done a notch. I really don’t even understand why is it so bad because it’s written by Gerry Duggan that writes Deadpool and Nova which, is too series I love. That’s the main problem with this series, it’s like the writers or Marvel didn’t care much for the added effort in this series. I can see this as many of the reasons why this series is cancelled. So, I guess the only reason to pick up this issue is to see the great chemistry Iron Man and Broo has and there’s also neat art to look at for the story. But besides that I don’t see as a worthy pick up. So, it really up to you to pick this and the final issue up.

Justice League Beyond 2.0 #13 –“The Brainiac Apocalypse Rages on!”

Intro

When the time I heard about Batman Beyond and Justice League Beyond were returning in comic book form I was very much excited and relieved. Because the DCAU had many great cartoon series that gave a rich universe of characters and stories that left a lot of unanswered questions to be explored. Now we are finally getting a lot of background history we always wanted in these two books and they have been great. There’s one constant problem that Justice League Beyond keeps running into that Batman Beyond is not. The characters aren’t getting any interesting dynamics or struggles for them to become a better hero instead we are getting many intertwined storylines that adds nothing to the characters. It just really pulls everyone away. For example, Superman loses control of his powers and we don’t ever come to terms of him having to struggle and overcome it. But now it’s put to a stop because now we have this new Superboy in team and Brainiac destroying the world. It’s a new story that putting everything to a halt and sadly this issue continues to do that.

Story

Brainiac continues to destroying different parts of the world as the heroes try to figure out how to save it.

The Good

We are seeing a lot of familiar characters we never seen before in the universe, which is expanding the DCAU to a new level.

The Bad

This over-expanding the universe is also causing everything to be cluttered and just skimming over on the action and what’s going on in the event. There’s no constant character focus, it just jumps to one place to another over and over. We have no idea how the characters get there or why they are there or what they are doing. It just keeps one page cameos to cut-short action shots. Everything just seems rushed and not getting to the full story.

I’m really having mixed feeling with the art here. It looks really good sometimes, but sometimes it turns really bad and disgusting on every panel. Some of the panels aren’t as detailed as others with no face expressions or body structure. The action is even rough to look at because it looks detailed in one panel and the next looks awful. It looks like it was rushed and not rushed at the same time. It leaves me at a very confused state on what’s going on.

Verdict

I give the issue a 2/5 out of 5/10 stars. I know it’s great to see the over-expanding the DCAU universe to grow. But it’s really putting the struggles of Superman’s powers and the character development about the new Superboy to a halt. The event is not even good or giving focus to what’s going on. It’s just really skimming through. The sad thing is that I see this book have a lot of potential to really shine to give character growth. But instead it’s just focusing too much on unnecessary stories that’s not needed. The only reason I see picking this book up is to see the expanding DCAU universe. But to me, I don’t see that as enough interest to me enjoy.