Reviews

Phil's Reviews — Stuff I Read and Put Back/Stuff I Bought #10

Spider-Man: Reign #4 (of 4) — Writer: Kaare Andrews; Artists: Andrews and Jose Villarrubia The finale’s actually the best issue of the series, with, finally, a few decent action scenes and some heroism (and no penises or radioactive bodily fluids). It has at least one cringe-worthy moment, though, as a nine-year-old street kid says “Let me tell you a thing about hope! Hope has three daughters: Anger at the state things have fallen into. Courage to fight to make things right. And the third daughter is truth,” a piece of dialogue that I’m pretty sure no one, in the history … Continue reading

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Phil's Reviews — Stuff I Bought #9 & Stuff I Bought #8

Shazam: The Monster Society of Evil #2 (of 4) — Written and Drawn by: Jeff Smith No letup on this second issue; we’re in the presence of great storytelling here. This is the book that we should have shown to everyone coming in for Dead Captain America. Look at the way both Billy and Mary are little kids, both innocent and brave against the looming, corrupt adult world — and yet, the littlest adult, Doctor Sivana (the Attorney General of the United States, and the head of Homeland Security to boot) just oozes menace. The clever/compelling bits go by almost … Continue reading

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Phil's Reviews — Stuff I Bought #6

Batman # 663 — Writer: Grant Morrison; Art: John Van Fleet This isn’t a comic, but an illustrated Joker short story by Morrison ( his first try at the Joker, Arkham Asylum, was…1989? Eighteen years ago? Geez…). It’s a good story — a couple of places near the beginning are overwritten, in the way that most all comics writers do when they tackle plain prose, but it settles down and does fine, and maybe it was the only way to get all the psychological underpinnings of this new, more ghastly Joker into place. Points for not calling attention to itself … Continue reading

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Phil's Reviews — Stuff I Read and Put Back #6

Omac # 8 ( of 8 ) — Writer: Bruce Jones; Pencils: Allan Goldman; Inks: J.J. Marreiro Boy, this turned into a depressing mess — too long by half, and the ending is just stupid and pointless. Let’s see: The guy with the Omac ability (which turns him into a ten-foot-tall metallic engine of destruction, controlled by an orbiting satellite called Brother Eye, but really, don’t ask) has sex with the girl, somehow infecting her with the same ability, and also getting her pregnant, after which the satellite eventually takes her over, sterilizes her, killing the embryo, and then eventually … Continue reading

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Phil's Reviews: Stuff I Bought #5

Shazam: The Monster Society of Evil #1 (of 4) — Writer/Artist: Jeff Smith Wow. Just…wow. The old guy in the park; the subway scene/seven deadly sins scene (probably the most faithful to the original that anyone’s ever done, and yet somehow brand-new); the ride to the Rock of Eternity; the expression on Billy’s face, lit from below as he peers out a window; the alligator bad-guys… who wouldn’t want this book? You could make a lot of kids into comics readers for life by giving them a book like this. Ultimate Spider-Man #105 — Writer: Brian Michael Bendis; Penciler: Mark … Continue reading

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